The Dragon Warrior Blues
by Fox MCcloud SNR
Summary: China is a different place, it's lawless and only bounty hunters decide what is and isn't right. Po is a bounty hunter and along with the crew of the 'Bebop' he now roams China looking for criminals to catch and along the way he may meet some familiar faces. This is an adaption of 'Cowboy Bebop' that is set in the KFP universe.
1. Session 1: The Dragon Warrior Blues

**The Dragon Warrior Blues**

**Hello everyone, because of my love of the anime 'Cowboy Bebop' I've decided to retell the stories in the anime using the characters of Kung Fu Panda. The stories will be altered in order to fit in more with the verisimilitude of the Kung Fu Panda universe, E.G This series will not take place in space but will instead be about Po and the other bounty hunters traveling around China in order to catch criminals.**

**Because of their different back stories I warn you that some characters will be a bit different to what you expect. I won't give examples as I want people to find out naturally through the story why these characters are different. Also don't expect every character to appear, I will try to place every member of the Furious Five in here somewhere but not all of them will become part of the team.**

**I hope you enjoy this and I would very much appreciate a review of this.**

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_Five Years Ago_

He had forgotten how long he been standing in the rain now, in the distance a bell tolled loudly its ring reverberated throughout the cold dark streets of the rundown town that he had found himself in. He was leaning against a wall waiting for something, a signal to tell him when he should execute his plan.

He was a panda, the last of his kind he had been told. He didn't let that thought dictate his life however and he lived his life how he wanted to.

He held a bouquet of roses in his hand, the material that was supposed to be protecting from weather such as this was useless and soaked. He moved off of the wall and stood up straight, when he wasn't slouching he made for an imposing figure.

His footsteps echoed down the alleyway as he walked slowly towards his destination. A nearby puddle caught his attention for a second, he pulled a single rose out from the bouquet and let it fall into the puddle, the red from the rose created a juxtaposition against the dull skies and dark streets.

He saw the building he was looking for, he looked up and both the full majesty of the house and the weight of the task in front of him almost overwhelmed him and sent him running for the hills. He gulped and remembered who was waiting for him, his courage returned soon after that.

The figure slowly walked up to the door and pushed it open, there was a stillness in the air just before the ambush happened. It was as he expected, upon entering the building he was attacked by several members of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate. He dropped the bouquet of flowers and threw a throwing knife that he had been holding onto for the past few hours, it streaked across the room and embedded itself into the forehead of one of them.

The panda dived across the room and engaged in combat, he smashed the flat of his palm into an antelope's nose. He felt the bones crack and turn to dust from the blow. A fist found its way into the back of the panda's head, he stumbled and walked into a vicious kick from another assassin.

He tried to gasp but the air had left his lungs, he didn't give up however and finished the antelope off with a swift but brutal punch to the throat, the antelope fell desperately trying to breathe through his destroyed throat, he fell to the ground and didn't get back up again after that.

The panda got into a martial arts pose and proceeded to dispatch the remainder of the scum that had been lying in wait for him. In a few seconds he managed to take out another two of them. The panda went to kill the remaining one, he turned and found him leaned against the far wall looking fearfully at him, he moved closer to seal the deal until the remaining gangster moved his hand, there was a flash of silver for a second and then the panda felt a sharp object pierce his stomach.

He grunted in pain and fell to his knees, the gangster laughed victoriously and causally walked over to finally end the fight, the panda felt some blood leak out of his mouth and saw it drip onto the floor. He glanced up at the gangster and grinned cockily.

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_Present Day_

A wagon rested on the side of the road, its wheel were worn from days of constant travelling and drifting. The sound of sizzling could be heard from a portable stove on one side of the wagon, a panda was standing on the other side of the wagon punching the air and practicing some form of an unknown martial art.

Sweat leaked from the panda's pores and his well-defined muscles ached in protest, he had been doing this for hours now, it was more from a lack of anything to do rather than a desire to keep his form consistent. The panda was wearing shorts, sandals and small bracers around his wrists.

A goose looked up from the stove and smiled to himself, he was wearing an apron with 'Kiss the Cook' written on the front of it, he was also wearing a simple red robe with light yellow lining, and a gold-coloured belt with wave designs on it. The panda swung his leg through the air and held it aloft for a few seconds, his face was contorted in concentration.

"Hey Po!" said the goose peeking around the wagon Po the panda looked at him out of the corner of his eye, "It's ready" the goose continued. Po put his foot back onto the ground and bowed to an invisible opponent. "I'm just about finished" Po said, "What's cooking?" he asked hoping for something tasty.

The goose smirked, "Today's special is Bell Peppers and Dumplings", Po's face lit up upon hearing the word 'Dumpling' for the panda loved dumplings. The goose walked back around to dish up the food with Po following behind him, the side of the wagon read 'Bebop'.

The goose held out a plate of food which Po took graciously, the panda sat cross legged on the floor and then started to scowl at his food noticing that something was off about it. The goose grabbed his food, sat down, pulled a note out of his pocket and began to read from it.

"Asimov Solenson, he's our next target. The reward is 2,500,000 yen apparently" said the goose, Po was only half listening and he was now picking through his food with his hands looking for something. Po looked up from his bowl with a frown plastered on his face, "Uh, listen Ping" he said.

The goose continued unaware that Po wasn't really listening, "He's a major player in the syndicate and he apparently operates all over China". Po tried to change the subject, "You said Bell Peppers and Dumplings" he said.

Ping ignored him, "I said his name is Asimov Solenson, Are you even listening to me?!" he admonished. Po put his bowl down in annoyance, "There's no Dumplings in here so you wouldn't really call it 'Bell Peppers and Dumplings' would you?".

Ping frowned at him, "Yes, I would". Po stood up angrily, "WELL IT'S NOT!" Ping sighed, "It is when you're broke all right?!"

"What happened to the Million reward we got for that last guy?" Po asked, Mr Ping closed his eyes in annoyance, "It went towards the repair bill for the businesses that you helped to destroy and the buildings you wrecked" Po blanched.

Mr Ping wings clenched in anger, "And the medical bill for the guy you injured, IT KILLED THE DOUGH!" he yelled. Ping breathed for a second to calm himself down, he picked the bounty note up again and continued to read it, "Now, three days ago there was a standoff between his group and a rival syndicate, he killed his own guys and then took off like the wind, word is that he's hiding out with some sweet thing in Shong".

Po looked up with a raised eyebrow, "Shong? That place is for small fries". Ping nodded and waved the note with a grin, "Yeah but this small fry is worth two and a half million". Po closed his eyes and put his arms behind his head nonchalantly, "I think I'll pass, I don't feel like it".

Ping shrugged dramatically, "Oh well, speaking of Shong apparently they have some dumplings there". Po's eyes snapped open immediately.

XXXXXX

Po pushed a straw hat over his head and looked up at the sign above the village, he said the name out loud, "Shong". Ping was stood next to him, "I'll join you later after I've hit up the local law enforcement to see if I can find any clues so we can find our Mr Solenson".

Po nodded and walked off with his hands in his pockets, he started to whistle a tune that he had heard a long time ago. Ping smirked to himself, "Nice tune, real easy".

XXXXXX

Shong was a dump, its walls were caked in graffiti and there was the smell of despair everywhere. A thick fog enveloped the sky due to the local factories and other industries. A small bar was on a street corner, above the entrance there was a huge sign that read 'El Ray'.

Inside the establishment was a bored looking rhino standing behind the bar cleaning out a glass, sitting at the table by the bar was a group of three elderly sheep, they were playing cards and arguing with each other. "This again!" complained the first sheep, he had his arm raised in anger at losing his money again for what seemed like the hundredth time, the second sheep who had a massive grin on his face scooped up the huge pile of money in the canter of the table.

The first sheep crossed his arms and grumbled to himself, "Taking my money like that, cheating dogs! You wouldn't even be able to gamble if it wasn't for what I did in the war, I busted my tail fighting off those rebels". The other two sheep rolled their eyes at the familiar excuse, "You always say the same thing when you're losing, we all fought in that war together you idiot!" the second sheep replied, the third one nodded in agreement, "That we did" he added.

The door to the bar opened interrupting their argument, standing in the doorway were two figures, a fierce looking snow leopard and an attractive looking lynx. The snow leopard glared at the three sheep then quickly walked over to the bar and pulled up a stool, he gestured to the lynx to sit next to him.

Upon closing inspection it was clear that the lynx was pregnant, she was walked over to what was presumably her partner at the bar and sat down next to him. The sheep looked lustfully at the lynx, she ignored it masterfully, it was clear she was used to these kinds of glances. The snow leopard did nothing to stop the sheep running their eyes over her, he must have been used to it too.

The snow leopard tapped on the desk and the rhino walked over to serve him, "Give me a drink" he said coldly, the rhino took it in his stride and looked at the lynx to see what she wanted. "I'll have as well" she said with a bit more warmth.

"Are you sure you want plain water?" the rhino asked, he pointed at the storeroom "I'm sure we've got something a bit more exotic for a lady such as yourself". The snow leopard nodded, "I'll help you look"; he got up out of the stool and followed the rhino round to the storeroom.

XXXXXX

Outside some buffaloes were making their way towards El Ray's, they were armed and they all had dangerous glints in their eyes.

XXXXXX

The snow leopard closed the door behind him, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red flower. "Premium Red Eye" he declared, "You're a buyer you know the score". The rhino cast a suspicious eye over the flower, "Is that real?" he asked.

The snow leopard nodded slowly.

XXXXXX

Outside the buffalo's surrounded the bar and waited for a signal.

XXXXXX

The rhino crossed him arms, "I'm going to need a little proof, let's have a demonstration" he ordered. The snow leopard looked at contemplatively for a second before complying with the request, he put his face close to the petals and took a deep breath.

He immediately felt the effects of the drug rush through his body, the snow leopard's pupils turned red and he fell to his knees clutching his head while letting out a gasp of pain. He looked up the rhino with a dark grin on his face, "Yeah" he snarled, "Keep those eyes open".

CRASH! The door to the bar was booted down by the buffaloes who had been waiting outside. The lynx immediately overturned a table and took cover behind it. She put a hand to her mouth and called out, "Asimov! Help me", Asimov the snow leopard pounced out of the store room and dived into the intruders. The Red Eye slowed the world down and made him see everything through a red tint.

Asimov made quick work of all of them, the snow leopard left none of them alive and throughout his rampage he had coated some of the walls with blood. He turned to the lynx who rose up from behind the bar and gasped at the carnage that had been created, she looked at him and the blood on his hands to which he gave a sickly smirk.

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Po sat cross legged across from the Soothsayer who held her hoof outstretched and had sand running through it and going onto the carpet. Po had decided to seek out the local mystic in the hopes of finding a lead for Asimov after having spent the past two hours looking around unsuccessfully.

His stomach rumbled and he sighed to himself, "Look, this is real 'mystic' and all but do you have anything to eat here?" The soothsayer ignored him and continued to let the sand fall to the ground, Po's stomach rumbled again and he closed his eyes in annoyance , "I see" he grumbled.

They sat in silence for a little while longer before she spoke, "The Red Eyed Leopard will appear in the far end of town. That, is what I see". Po opened his eyes and looked at her curiously, "A Red Eyed Leopard? North of Town".

The sand finished running so the Soothsayer closed her palm, "You, Swimming Bird", Po looked around, "Who? Me?" She confirmed it with her next answer, "You, Swimming Bird will meet a woman, the Bird will be hunted by this woman and then. Death" She finished grimly.

Po closed his eyes again and smiled softly to himself, "One more time" he whispered nostalgically. The Soothsayer looked at him in confusion, "What's that?" She asked. Po slowly got to his feet, "I was killed once before, by a woman".

He went to leave but was stopped by her voice, "You take women too kindly my friend". Po waved nonchalantly, "On the contrary, catch you later" And with that, he left. The Soothsayer grabbed another handful of sand, "May the gods guide his spirit" she blew the sand into the air.

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Ping stood with his wings on his hips and observed the destruction. He was in a bar called 'El Ray's' which he had been informed by the locals had recently had a huge gunfight here, because he was also struggling for leads he had decided to come here to see if there was anything in this place that they could possibly use to track down Asimov Solenson.

He wandered over to the bar and climbed up onto a stool, he reached behind the bar and pulled up the first bottle that his wing landed on, he found something and then pulled it out. "Ahhh" he remarked when he saw it, it was a cheap bottle of Saki, he raised the bottle to his mouth after opening it.

"On the house" he said to no one in particular. He stopped when he heard two people approaching from the outside, he quickly dived behind the counter only stopping to make sure that he had picked up his bottle of cheap Chinese liquor.

The door to the bar opened and Ping heard them slowly move about the crime scene, _"They must be admiring this guy's handiwork too"_ Ping deduced. The first mook said, "Wow! Check this place out, Asimov really did a number on these guys, they didn't stand a chance", Ping stayed perfectly still, this could be a good opportunity to 'gather' some local intelligence, he knew his hunch was right about this place after all.

He heard them move about the room clearing away the mess and the bodies presumably before any law enforcement arrived. The first mook spoke again, "Hey I've just had a thought", there was a thud as they dropped a body onto the floor, "What are we supposed to do if we find Asimov? As long as he's using the 'Red Eye' he's unbeatable". "Trust me, if we _don't _get the 'Red Eye' back the n we're as good as dead anyway, we may as well go out trying to kill that traitorous snow leopard", replied the second guy.

Now Ping had heard enough, he climbed up on top of the bar and saw that both of them had their backs turned to him. He tapped the first guy on the shoulder, when he turned around Ping smiled at him and said"Yo", he then quickly broke the bottle of Saki over the guy's head, it had the desired effect and fell onto the floor like a sack of potatoes. He grabbed the second guy in a tight headlock before he could react and held the broken part of the bottle up to his face, "Tell me some more" Ping ordered threateningly.

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Po felt his stomach rumble fiercely as he walked down the streets of Shong, he was now just walking around the in the vague hope of just bumping into Asimov, he sighed and decided to find something to eat before continuing his search.

He rounded a corner and before he could react he bumped straight into a lynx who was carrying some groceries, they spilled over the floor; there were apples and dumplings and many other foods. Po quickly bent down and started to help the lynx pick up her stuff, upon closer inspection he saw that the lynx was pregnant, she was also very attractive with ruby red lips and a cool glint in her eye. Po thought that there was something familiar about her.

"I'm so sorry" Po said quickly, the lynx smiled at his bumbling attempts to help her. Po quickly stuffed the items back into her arms and quickly walked off, the lynx looked down at her returned items and saw that something was missing. She looked up at Po's retreating figure and called out, "Excuse me".

Po turned around slowly and revealed that his mouth was full of the peaches that she had just bought, he grinned guiltily at her for a second before taking them out of his mouth, "These are your peaches" he said bemusedly before trying to hand them back to her.

The lynx frowned at him, "Yeah I can see that, just keep them" Po smiled and then threw the peaches back into his mouth, he swallowed them quickly and started to laugh and take the apples he had stolen from her out of his pockets. Instead of being angry she just smiled at his child like mischievousness.

"Sorry my stomach just took over my brain for a second there, it likes to do that sometimes" Po explained. "Really?" she said sarcastically, they both shared another laugh and started to walk down the street with each other. "So what are you doing in a dive like this?" she asked, there wasn't any suspicion or ill intent she legitimately seemed interested to know why such a childlike person was in Shong.

Po took his eyes off of her and looked ahead of him, "I guess you could say I'm travelling from place to place" he spread his arms out and declared dramatically, "I'm actually a travelling performer, I can make any kind of food disappear". The lynx giggled, "The sad part is I can't tell whether you're joking or not", Po smirked, "Yeah I get that a lot" he admitted with a chuckle.

"Have you ever been to the Valley of Peace?" asked the Lynx with a hint of longing in her eye. Po nodded, "Yeah, I'm actually from there" he said proudly. "I hear it has everything there" the lynx said dreamily, "Not like here, there's parks and festivals and the people are actually happy there, The Valley must be a great place to live".

Po shrugged, "Sure, if you're rich". The lynx looked ahead of herself again, "Then I'm sure we will be quite happy", Po looked at her knowingly which she missed. "Planning to escape to the Valley of Peace are you?" he said seriously, a cocky smirk came over his face, "Go ahead and run, see how far you get". The lynx growled, "Who are you?"

Po ignored her and kept on walking, she stopped in her tracks when the realization hit her, "You're a bounty hunter….aren't you?" Po stopped moving and looked at her "Yeah, that's about right". "I'm after a criminal known as Asimov Solenson, he's known to be travelling with a pregnant lynx so you pretty just confirmed it for me. You know your boyfriend is sick right? He's a small fry, I don't usually bother with small fry".

The lynx narrowed her eyes at him dangerously, "A wise decision" she said coldly. Po felt two massive paws start to crush his windpipe from behind, he clawed desperately at them so he could breathe but they were just too strong. He heard a growl from behind him, "Now who's the small fry?" Asimov Solenson said from behind him. He lifted Po off of the ground whilst still strangling him, the lynx couldn't bear to see this "Asimov! That's enough you don't need to kill him!"

The snow leopard complied and quickly let Po go, the panda fell to the ground but not before grabbing something from Asimov's pocket. Po looked up at the lynx who was now running down the street with Asimov, Po's vision became blurry before disappearing completely.

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Asimov and the Lynx rounded a corner and hugged the wall, the snow leopard rounded on her angrily, "Why did you stop me! He would have been dead in a couple of seconds and I wanted to see him die!" The lynx looked at him in shock, "Asimov please! This has to stop".

A growl left the snow leopard's throat, "I think you liked him" he said accusingly. The lynx folded her arms and looked away, "You told me to go and get provisions, why were you following me?" Asimov ignored her question and peeked around the corner to see whether the panda had followed them. He felt a tug on his arm and saw the Lynx looking desperately at him, "Let's go leave this place Asimov like you promised me we would, we need to get out of this life and go and live happily somewhere".

Asimov ignored her again.

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Po woke up and saw a shadow being cast over him, he squinted which made his vision come into focus, he saw Ping standing over him looking at him with a very amused expression. "Having ourselves a little nap huh?" The goose asked sarcastically.

Po smiled dreamily, "I had a sweet dream", Ping laughed "That's heart-warming". The goose's expression changed and become annoyed, "You can finish your dream back on the 'Bebop' I'm giving up on this one, it's like they've disappeared. When Asimov left his syndicate he sneaked some stuff off of them, it's serious stuff and can ruin your mental abilities, I 'politely' asked someone what it's called and he told me it's a small red flower known as 'Red Eye', apparently it's called that because your eyes turn blood red when its used".

"Our target took every last one from the syndicate so let's just say he's not very popular around anyone here anymore, they keep sending assassins after him but all they get back are corpses" Ping folded his arms and narrowed his eyes, "It seems that Asimov has been doing the stuff he took".

Po got to his feet and rubbed his neck slowly, "No kidding", he pulled out the small red flower he had taken from Asimov's pocket, "Did you know that they want to escape to the Valley of Peace?" Ping turned around with a confused expression, "The Valley of Peace?" Po nodded and held out the flower, "Yeah but they have to sell these first", Ping's eyes drifted to the flower, "Is that what I think it is?"

Po nodded, "Yeah I grabbed it out of his pocket while he was throttling me" Ping merely blinked at him in surprise, "You…..met him?" Po chuckled and started to juggle the flower in his hands, "Yeah, so to speak".

He looked at the flower in thought, "The Red Eyed Leopard will appear in the north" the thought flitted through his mind, "Well I guess there is something to that magic after all". Po began a slow walk to see if he could find Asimov and his little friend again, now that he had their product he had an idea. Ping walked beside him "At least you didn't end up having a dirt nap Po" Ping said dryly, Po chuckled.

XXXXXXX

Asimov rounded the corner, "I think it's safe now, come Katerina we still have to get rid of the 'Red Eye' before we can leave this hellhole", the lynx nodded and they left to try and find another buyer.

They came across a restaurant that had a familiar group sitting on the outside of it, "This again! God dammit it!" yelled the first sheep angrily, he threw his cards down on the table in defeat. "Both of you taking my money like that you cheating dogs! The only reason you can even eat here is 'cause of what I done, I busted my tail to plant all those crops alongside two of my buddies". The second sheep sighed irritably, "We're the buddies that you're talking about!" The third sheep nodded in agreement, "That we are, we planted those seeds like there was no tomorrow".

The second sheep nudged him with his arm, "You were always planting of a different kind though weren't you?" They all shared a laugh which was swiftly stopped by the sight of a fierce and familiar looking snow leopard walk past them with a familiar looking attractive Lynx. They walked past the group of sheep without paying them any mind and decided to single out a figure sitting on a bench with a hat covering his face and a poncho over his body.

Asimov sat next to him, "Do you have any 'Red Eye'?" the figure moved slightly, "Not very subtle are you? I'm actually to buy some and this town looks like it has the right amount of decadents", Asimov smirked to himself, "I have some, I'll give you five of them for 2.5 million yen".

"How about 1 Million?" the figure suggested, Asimov grunted irritably and stood back up, "I'm in a hurry and I've got other customers so-", the figure grabbed his arm, "Show me" he ordered. Asimov tried not to laugh at his ability to sell the 'Red Eye' he reached into his pockets and his heart skipped a beat when he couldn't find it in his pocket.

The figure laughed, "Looking for this?" he pulled out the red flower and showed it to Asimov who growled at him, the figure got up. "Do you know how much you're worth? It's funny because you're also worth 2.5 million Yen, that's you're bounty, I did say that you were a small fry" he removed the straw hat, "How's it going?" asked Po smugly.

Katerina flinched when Po glared at her, he looked at Asimov again "You look surprised" Po said. Asimov ran his eye disapprovingly over him, "And you look ridiculous in that get up" he snarled, "I thought you weren't after my bounty?" he asked. Po shrugged, "There's no thrill in the cheap ones Asimov you know?"

Asimov subtly moved his feet in order to get in a more prime position to gut this cocky panda, "I'd think you'd do better as a thief then a bounty hunter". He held out a paw, "Now hand it over before someone, specifically you gets hurt" he ordered.

Po looked at the flower in his hand, "Glad to, besides" he crushed the flower in his hand and threw its remains to the wind, "I still have to pay you back for earlier don't I?" Asimov felt something snap and he lunged at Po.

The panda threw the poncho off and let it cover Asimov's face, the snow leopard crashed into a table and roared in rage, he threw the poncho off and threw fast strikes at Po who dodged them all while laughing gleefully. Po punched Asimov across the face and tripped him, while the snow leopard was falling to the ground Po grabbed his tail and started to swing him around, Po threw him into a wall and Asimov hit it so hard that a crack appeared in it.

Po put his hands on his hips triumphantly, "You trust your eyes too much Asimov" he said cockily. Asimov got to his feet and started attacking Po again, Po kicked Asimov in the gut knocking the air out of him, the snow leopard collapsed into a heap on the ground. Po stood over him, "You given up yet? If you have I promise not to injure you too bad when I hand you over to the authorities and get my reward", Po heard someone creep up behind him, he automatically grabbed the person's wrist before they managed to get the drop on him.

"Don't even think about sweetheart" Po growled, he pushed her away, "I'll get to you in a minute". Katerina glared daggers at the panda's back. Po bent down to take Asimov away when a knife flew into his arm, Po gasped and his paw immediately flew to it to stop the blood flow. He looked up and saw a bunch of buffalo's, "Oh great" Po said dismissively "The Red Dragon's, just what I need right now".

One of the gang stepped forward, "Run along now bounty hunter and let us deal with that cur" he demanded. They immediately attacked Po, the panda barely managed to dodge the attacks and in the confusion Asimov got up and ran away, Katerina saw that her partner had abandoned her so she started to follow him. Po saw them get away, "Thanks guys now my bounty is getting away" he snarled.

He threw them off and set off to catch the bounty, he chased Asimov and Katerina down the street. More and more gang members were popping up everywhere and Po did his best to dodge them, when appeared in front of him and he did a front flip over him. He saw Katerina get taken down by one, as little as he liked either of them Po didn't want to see her baby be killed because of their foolishness.

He got there too late however and the thug brought a knife down towards her, "NO!" Po yelled, the knife plunged into her and a bunch of the red flowers fell out of her. Po kicked the guy off of her, "So you never were pregnant?" he asked angrily, he was suddenly tackled by two large ox.

Asimov saw what had happened and raged at her, "Idiot!" he yelled, "If we lose these things we're dead!" he went and they desperately picked some of them up. Po decked the last ox and ran to catch up with them again, he was already getting tired of chasing them.

XXXXXXX

Asimov and Katerina ran into a dead end, Asimov quickly grabbed some of the flowers and started to inhale their scent. Katerina grabbed his arm desperately, "Asimov please! That stuff is going to kill you!" she slapped it out of his hands, he turned on her angrily and slapped her down. The snow leopard crawled around pathetically to try and find some of them, she looked sadly at him. "We'll never get out of her now, I won't ever be able to see the Valley and I think the man I fell in love with died years ago" she said in a monotone voice. Asimov was moaning and growling like a feral beast, he was going into some kind of withdrawal state because he hadn't had the 'Red Eye' inside of him for a couple of hours.

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Po rounded the corner and gasped at what he saw, Katerina was standing over Asimov holding a bloody knife. Asimov was clearly dead by this point and Katerina didn't look like she cared all too much over what she had done, she looked up at Po with a knowing look in her eye.

Po went to walk over to her but she put the knife to her throat, the panda knew what she was going to do, "NO! WAIT!" but it was decided before he even arrived. "Goodbye panda", they were her last words.

Po sighed deeply before exiting the area quickly. He heard the gang members come across the area while he was on his way out.

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Sunset was now over the area.

The stove sizzled once again, "Hey Po!" said the goose peeking around the wagon, Po the panda looked at him out of the corner of his eye, "It's ready" the goose continued. Po put his foot back onto the ground and bowed to an invisible opponent. "I'm just about finished" Po said, "What's cooking?" he asked hoping for something tasty.

"It's your favorite" Mr Ping said sarcastically, "It's Bell Peppers and Dumplings". The panda sighed at Deja-vu, before he followed the goose he looked out at the sunset and remembered what had happened today, he shook his head and went to go and fill his stomach all the while whistling the song that he had whistled earlier.

**See You Dragon Warrior**

**So what did you think? Do you think the 'Cowboy Bebop' stories translate well when starring a panda? I hope you enjoyed this and you can expect the next one soon, I'll leave a little teaser here so you can get an idea of what to expect.**

**Teaser**

"**Well the stories finally started" Po said.**

"**What' all this?" asked Ping. **

"**Next time we're totally changing gears, it's gonna be a story for all ages" Po said. "What's the story?" asked Ping, **

**Po grinned knowingly, "There's gonna be lot's more chases and fights, havoc throughout the land and no, the peacock with the cannons will not show up". **

"**Can you even say that?" Ping worried, "I'm taking no responsibility for this".**

**Po sighed, "Fine, small children should sit far back from the screen".**

"**C'mon! How far back"**

**Po scratched his chin, "Uhhh, about three quarters of a mile" he said.**

**Ping shook his head, "What! That's too far".**

**Po chuckled, "Okay, half a mile". **

**Ping nodded, "That's much more reasonable" he replied sarcastically.**

"**Next time on 'Dragon Warrior Blues' it's Session #2 'The Stray Panda Strut', see you then". **


	2. Session 2: The Stray Panda Strut

**The Dragon Warrior Blues**

**I'm glad people liked the first chapter. Don't worry people Tigress will be introduced in the next chapter. I just want to use this to clear something up for people, because I'm basing these on episodes of 'Cowboy Bebop' I have to watch the episodes over and over again so I can get the finer details in, however this means I can get them out quicker because I don't have to come up with the majority of the ideas Finally to the three people on the entire planet that care about 'The Dragon Warriors' I've hit a dead end with that so I'll get back to it when I feel like. **

**Well that's enough out of me let's just get straight to what you've all come here to read.**

****Session #2 The Stray Crane Strut****

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A mongoose was standing in a restroom cubicle relieving himself, he wore simple casual clothes and he had bandages around his wrists, they weren't to suggest any dark hidden past they were there for decoration only. He finished what he was doing and froze when he had a strange rattling, he looked down at the source and saw that it was only the case he had brought with him, it rattled about by itself like it had a mind of its own. It was an ordinary looking travel case, it's only distinguishing feature was its gold handle and its contents.

He sighed heavily and paid it no mind, when he had zipped up he picked the case up, he heard a group of people run into the bathroom and stand outside the cubicle that he was in, the mongoose prepared himself for a fight.

"Come on out you disgusting mongoose!" came a snide voice from outside, "You can't run anymore". The mongoose stayed where he was, he started to calmly and quickly try to put together a plan, the thugs outside were getting impatient, they surrounded the cubicle and covered it from all angles, "It's all over for you Abdul Hakim", there was still no answer from the mongoose.

The thug who had spoken gestured silently to one of the others to open the cubicle door up, the one he picked felt a twinge of fear go through his heart; he had heard so many stories about the Legendary Abdul Hakim and his brutal and vicious attacks. He pulled a knife and slowly walked towards the door, before he could open it the door was kicked off of its hinges, it flew into the thug and sent him flying into the wall behind him.

Abdul Hakim raised himself up to his full height and stood over the now scared thugs, their leader who had spoken earlier didn't look impressed however, "You're not so tough, I've heard all of the stories about you and I've gotta say I'm not impressed", he pulled out a similar looking knife to his comrade, "You want to fight Abdul?"

Abdul grinned evilly at the two that were still standing, the other thug flinched in terror, "You're….you're crazy" he murmured. The mongoose slowly got into a fighting stance, there was a short pause that filled with tension and then Abdul launched himself at the two of them, their guns fired but hopelessly hit the stall behind him. He punched one in the throat flooring him instantly, he rounded on the second one and punched him in the kidney, the wounded thug desperately tried to catch a breath that wasn't there.

All of the guys fell down defeated, Abdul admired his handiwork with an arrogant sneer. The mongoose waited for a second just in case they got back up, when he was confident that they definitely out cold he checked the entrance to see if there were any more on the outside. There was nobody outside so he decided to quickly make his escape, he went back into the cubicle and picked the still rattling case up. He looked once more onto the thugs before leaving out of the open door.

The thug that Hakim had hit with the door got up slowly and groaned at his injuries, "Oh man" he said to himself worriedly, "The boss is not going to be happy with this."

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_Meanwhile _

Po was sleeping heavily in the back of the 'Bebop', both him and Ping were both incredibly bored due to not having a single case since the 'Solenson' incident a few weeks ago. And the worst part of it all was that they were nearly out of supplies, they hadn't earned any money also because of the lack of work. Po's pleasant dreams about money and food were soon interrupted however.

"PO! PO! WAKE UP!" yelled Ping in excitement, the large panda stirred slowly and woke up. He sat up and yawned loudly while stretching to get the cramp out of his big arms, he then wiped some drool away from his mouth. Po got out of the wagon and found the Goose walking towards him with a sheet of paper in his hand, Po became excited and this could only mean one thing.

"I got the new issue of 'Big Shot' Po!" Ping shouted happily, Po whooped with delight and ran over to examine the document. 'Big Shot' was a paper that bounty hunter could buy to find out about the next big prize, Ping must of gone into the nearest town and found one, the only problem with 'Big Shot' was that because it was a public paper then any loser with a gun and a thought that they were tough could pick it up and find the bounty.

"Nice work partner, see you can useful for some things" Po said cheekily, Ping frowned at him. Po snatched 'Big Shot' off of the goose and frantically scanned it for a case. One stood out to him, "Abdul Hakim, huh" Po read aloud, Ping got into the 'Bebop' with Po closely following him.

"Let's just get Hakim" Ping suggested, "We're short on cash and we're already near Shandong, I skim read that one on the way back to the 'Bebop' so read the whole article aloud while we're on our way there". Po nodded, Ping started the journey to Shandong while Po cleared his throat and began to read the article. "Hey there Amigos" Po raised an eyebrow, _"Seriously who writes these things?" _he thought bemusedly, "How're all you 300,000 bounty hunters in China doing? It's time for BIG SHOT, the paper that brings you all the useful information about fugitives Shucks howdy!" Po smirked again, "Just as a rule Ping, next time we get one of these you're reading it, I can't be seen dead reading this thing out loud", Ping shrugged, "Fine whatever just carry on", Po found his place on the page again and continued on.

"Well, well, first up for today is this guy; Abdul Hakim", a massive arrow next to the sentence was pointing towards a picture of a mongoose that was printed next to it. It had some information about him over the top of the picture. Race: Mongoose. Height: 6 Feet 2 Inches. Age: Unknown.

Po frowned, "This guy sounds pretty big", Ping waved his hand as if waving away the concern, "Don't be a baby Po, if you're scared then you stay in the 'Bebop'. Po rolled his eyes and continued reading, "He's known as a serial thief who specializes in the trafficking of People and Information, in his latest crime Hakim stole some property belonging to a renowned bunch of alchemists, unfortunately his last known location was in the not-so-fair city of Shandong. The good news is however is that he's worth a whopping 8 million yen! The conditions are as always."

Po paused for a second to turn the page, "You MUST bring him in alive on order for you to claim your reward, if you kill him, then we will allow you to come and kiss your reward goodbye before we keep it for ourselves. Abdul Hakim is the biggest reward we've had in a long time, probably the biggest we'll have this season! Do your best to get this guy and remember, if you see other bounty hunters after him then don't be afraid to walk up behind them and stab them in the back. Adios amigos and until next time!"

Po put the paper down, "That was a lot more upbeat then they usually are" he remarked dryly, he turned to Ping "So what do you think?"

"This guy sounds like an easy catch honestly" Ping replied, "Also the thing he took we could also keep for ourselves and sell it on the black market!" Po could almost see the money signs in the goose's eyes, honestly the thought of more cash did entice the panda. Po nodded "Okay then Ping, let's go and catch this Abdul Hakim!"

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Hakim walked into a nearby bar and had to crouch down slightly in order to actually get inside, a bell above the door went off to tell the owners someone had entered. Hakim automatically went to the counter, he had been instructed by his contact to meet him in a few hours at a place not too far from here and hand the case over to him. For someone as experienced as Hakim the job seemed almost too easy.

All of the patrons eyed up both Hakim and the case he was carrying but the mongoose ignored them all, the bartender greeted him enthusiastically, "Hey there stranger! If you feel lethargic, have some ginseng hei-sui!" Abdul just looked at him blankly. The bartender could feel that he was losing a potential chance to sell Abdul the more expensive beverages.

"If you're tired" he continued, he tried not to notice Abdul's increasing boredom. "You should try some sugarcane hei-sui! It'll keep you up for a week. Have you eaten too much? Then try some pineapple hei-sui". Abdul slammed his hand onto the counter to shut him up, the entire bar went silent.

Abdul just glared at the barkeep "Give me some lao-chu" he demanded. The barkeeper nodded quickly and quickly made him the drink, it was a dark brown color with the consistency of clotted blood but it did look quite appetizing. Abdul nodded his thanks to the barkeeper who quickly went to find something to do.

Abdul went to pick the glass up but a shove from behind jerked him and knocked the glass over, it rolled off the bar and smashed onto the floor the contents spilling over Hakim's shoes, the mongoose just kept looking ahead his face showing no anger or rage.

A drunk goat from behind put his arm over Hakim, "Sorry my apologies there, bro." He slurred, Abdul just ignored him and wiped his wet hands onto his clothing, the goat's breath flew into his face and made him cringe internally. "Hey, I said I'm sorry" the goat said now getting increasingly flustered. "What, can't say anything? You think you're better than me? Is that it?" he asked Hakim.

"Excuse me sir" Hakim muttered politely, the goat raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, what do you want bud?" Hakim gently pulled his arm off of him and turned to face the goat, "Would you mind picking up the glass that you just knocked on the floor? I was trying to drink lao-chu from it".

The goat smiled at having one the mongoose over, "Sure bud, I'd be happy to", he bent down to get it, when his face was near enough the remains of the glass Hakim put his boot on the back of the goat's head and forced his face into the broken glass. The goat screamed in agony and clawed at Abdul's shoe to try and get him off.

Hakim heard the doorbell ring and saw a kid running away with a familiar looking suitcase, Hakim looked at where he had placed his and saw that it was missing the mongoose snarled and darted after him. He booted the door down and ran down the street after the kid, with every step he thought of more horrifying things that he was going to do to him for entertaining the thought of stealing that case from him.

The kid rounded a corner and Abdul followed him, when the mongoose ran round the corner however the teenager had disappeared. Hakim growled dangerously and hit a nearby wall leaving a crack in it.

On the roof above Hakim trying as hard as he could to not let out a breath was the teenager, he had seen a flash of gold on the case and thought it might be worth quite a bit of money so he had risked death for stealing property but if his hunch was correct it would mean quite a bit of money. He waited until the mongoose left to try and pick up his trail again before leaping off of the roof and landing in an alley way.

He crouched behind a wall and took a look at his prize, it was a normal looking case but it had gold handles which is what he had seen in the bar. "Ok time to collect my loot" he said out loud, he went to pick the lock of the case then it shook and fell out of his hands.

He looked at it oddly for a few seconds before picking it back up again and picking the lock, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves, whatever was inside of the case might not be overly friendly. He opened it slowly and a wing poked out of it, the kid lost his nerve and stuffed the wing back in and slammed the case shut.

It wiggled about again, whatever was inside had tasted fresh air and freedom for a few seconds and now it wanted more of it. The teenager out his body over it to contain the creature and pondered what he was to do with it, he deliberated for a minute before coming to the obvious conclusion that he would sell it to a pawn shop, after all if they were desperate enough a pawn shop could take literally anything off of your hands and give you a fair amount for it.

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"Even if we overhaul this old thing we'll still have a lot to split between us, what are you gonna get with your half?" asked Po excitedly, Ping rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I don't know Po" Ping put on a serious face, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket yet Po we haven't even reached Shandong".

Po folded his arms and pouted, "Thanks for ruining that partner", he dropped the fake irritability to show a cocky smirk, "No, I've got this one nailed shut" he claimed arrogantly.

Ping shook his head in disbelief, "Just give it your best shot Po", Shandong came into view in the horizon, "Hey I can see it Po!" Po climbed on top of the 'Bebop', when he got a full glimpse of the place he frowned to himself, "Wow 'Big Shot' was right it doesn't look too great".

The town looked like a black spot on an otherwise beautiful countryside, you could almost see the graffiti and broken dreams of the people from here. "Make sure you don't bring your wallet Po! This looks like it's gonna be a rough one!" Ping yelled up to him, Po couldn't disagree.

The panda climbed back down, got into the wagon and started to make preparations for when they arrived, mainly in the weapon department.

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A Ox and a Buffalo were sat around a table in a restaurant, they were talking business but 'hiding in plain sight' worked a lot more than people ever gave it credit for. "So all three of them went down?" asked the Ox, he was referring to the three agents that they had sent after Abdul Hakim in order to get back the property that he had stolen from them,

The buffalo nodded, "Seems that way". "And Hakim is still around hiding in this town somewhere" The Ox asked, the buffalo nodded again, "Seems that way".

The Ox growled, "Damn that fool, he has no idea how much that _thing _is really worth".

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Po and Ping hid the 'Bebop' a ways back in a hidden clearing so it wouldn't get stolen. The panda and the goose walked the rest of the way into Shandong, when they reached the entrance it actually looked worse than 'Big Shot' described. It had a massive steel gate barring anyone from entering it, there was little slot in the center of it for the guard to presumably peek their head out and identify the visitor.

"Wow, this place looks charming" remarked Po. The panda had a thought, "Hey Ping", "Yes what is it Po?" Po smirked, "Why don't I handle this one", the goose frowned "Why?"

"I can get this guy by myself, we'll just get in each other's way trying to get him" Po explained, Ping couldn't disagree, Po did work better solo and the Bebop did need someone to guard it. "Okay then Po, I'll wait with the Bebop back where we left it, if you need back up then-" Ping pulled out a small firework, "Light this and let it fly into the sky, I'll see it from we parked the Bebop."

Po nodded and took the firework off of Ping, "Do you have an idea of where you want to start?" asked Ping, the panda nodded and put the firework away, "I'll try and find a weapons dealer in town, Hakim would've needed to gather some to protect himself if he's carrying precious cargo".

"That seems fine" agreed Ping, the goose walked off and left Po to enter Shandong alone. The panda walked up to the large gate and pounded on the door, the sound was incredible and made Po cover his ears. The slot opened and a pair of grey eyes looked out of it, "Who's there? What business do you have in Shandong?" he demanded.

Po scratched his head, he and Ping hadn't thought of an excuse to go inside. "Hi friend, I'm a travelling salesmen and I wanted to try and sell my wares to this fine village", Po thought it was best to not mention his true occupation, some places weren't as tolerant as others when it comes to others.

There was silence for a few seconds until the figure behind the door roared with laughter, Po raised an eyebrow, he pointed a finger accusingly, "Sir, I'll have you know we travelling salesmen take our professions very seriously" Po said dramatically, the panda continued to hear laughter.

"You've got spirit kid I'll give you that, I know you're a bounty hunter here looking for a guy, you're not the first so I'd hurry up if I were you otherwise you'll of lost your catch", the gate opened and Po quickly ran in but not before saying a quick "Thank you" to the guard who turned out unsurprisingly to be a rhino, Po wondered if that particular species could actually get any other job.

He snapped out of it when he remembered that the rhino had told him that he wasn't the first today to come into Shandong looking for Hakim, he increased his pace and looked everywhere for a weapon shop.

Po thanked Shandong's reputation as it didn't take him long to find what he was looking for, on a corner was a smallish shop with a massive sign outside, on the sign was a massive picture of a blade which showed everyone what kind of tools it stocked.

Po stopped outside of it and went in, Po gasped at the sight of the shop, the walls were covered with swords, blades, knives, bo staffs, nun chucks and maces, all of the stuff looked deadly and Po looked in awe of it, he heard a cough and saw a youth standing at the counter looking disgruntled, he was an antelope who had multiple piercings through his ears and one through his lip.

Po walked up to the counter and leaned on it, "Can I help you?" The youth asked irritably, Po nodded and put on a true cheesy grin, "I think you can my fine gentlemen, I'm looking for a guy carrying a case". The antelope looked at Po like he was an idiot, "A guy carrying a case? Well I'm glad you could create a real picture of this guy. I don't know anyone like that".

Po sighed and got off of the counter, "Well at least I tried, thank you for the help anyway", Po went to leave but decided to try one last attempt, "Say I was wondering about those" Po pointed towards a pair of nun chucks on the wall, he walked over to them and started to swing them, with the same nonchalant attitude the antelope replied, "What about them?".

Po held them aloft, "There's a long chain on this one, is this the 'Way of the Dragon' model?" The antelope started to look a bit more interested, "Hey, pretty good eye! It's a rare one from about 30 years ago". Po swung it around a bit more, "Yeah it's an antique for sure".

The antelope stopped slouching and stood up straight to show his interest in Po, "You can buy anything in Shandong from weapons to lives, everyone is after Abdul Hakim but I'll tell you where you should look because it's always nice to meet someone who finds a beauty and an appreciation in weapons, there's a pawn shop called 'Antique Treasures' off of Caiphon Road, you should try there, if I was Hakim I would definitely try and sell whatever I stole there".

Po absorbed the information and put the nun chuck back on the rack, "Thank you for the tip", the antelope nodded and Po left the store, he started to look around for Caiphon road.

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'Antique Treasure' was as it sounded, the shop was very dark due to the owner putting sheets over the windows, the only major light source in the room was from the entrance, there was also a thick layer of dust in the shop and a lot of cobwebs.

"I'll look but that's all" said the owner of the store, she was an irritable old lady who was only interested in a profit. She was currently serving the teenager who had stolen Abdul Hakim's case, after escaping the area the youth had immediately come to the shop to get some cash for it.

"I'm not promising I'll but it even after I've seen it" explained the owner, the kid nodded quickly and lifted the heavy case onto the counter, "Right fine!" he huffed. Suddenly a hand grabbed him from behind and threw him to the ground, it was a smirking panda.

"So, got tired of running did you Hakim?" asked Po cockily. The kid put his arms in front of his face to avoid getting hit, "Y-you've got it all wrong I'm not Hakim I-", "Don't move" ordered Po. "Now both of you stop this fighting" the old lady said without looking up from the case, "Any damage you do you will pay for".

Po glared at her, "Open the case" he growled, "This is a misunderstanding" panicked the youth. Po kicked him in the face, "I said quiet! Do you like your teeth in your head!?" Po yelled, the kid wailed and clutched his face.

The panda looked at the owner again, "Do it!" The old lady grumbled and started to unlock the case, as soon as it had been unlocked something burst out of it in a bunch of feathers, Po covered his face, _"Oh great, please don't be an avian"_ he thought grumpily.

The form stopped flapping about and stood up to its full height, it was nearly as tall as Po. The panda raised an eyebrow and pointed at it, "How much is that thing worth?" he asked the owner, the crane glared at him. The old lady shrugged, "I don't know, I'm not really an expert on the trafficking of lives, as you can probably tell by the sign on the building I'm an antiques dealer!"

Po sighed and gripped the bridge of his nose, "Ok lady calm down!" He walked up to the avian slowly, "Can you talk?" he asked; the crane looked at him oddly but didn't say anything. Po threw him arms up in the air dramatically, "Oh great, he's a mute!" Po complained, "So now I can't give him back to his owners because he doesn't know where he came from".

Po huffed and slumped his shoulders, "Well this was a waste" he looked down at the crying teenager, "Sorry about the whole beating thing, I thought you were someone else" the panda left the shop in an irritated mood, he had managed to get a grand total of 0 yen, that meant more rationing which Po hated more than anything.

The panda then stood in a muddy puddle, he groaned and tried to shake off any filth he had gotten on his footwear, he was so focused on that that he didn't notice a very tall mongoose walk past him.

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"At least give me some money for it!" Begged the teenager, the old lady refused to buy the bird off of him no matter how little money he asked for, the crane simply stood around and took in the first taste of freedom it had had in a very long time.

"How about ten? Or five? O-"The teenager felt a knife get pressed into his back, "How about you give me my property back and I only give you a mildly life threatening injury?" Offered Hakim. The crane recognized the creature that had originally taken him, he backed away into a corner.

Hakim walked over to it and tried to lure it back into the case, he put his hand close to it and the Crane bit him. The mongoose let out a large yelp that could be heard for several hundred blocks of Shandong.

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Po heard the yell, his mood told him to ignore it and go and find some food but his instincts told him that this could be something valuable, "Damn it" Po grumbled, he ran towards the source of the sound. He turned the corner and saw the antiques store, the crane burst out of the store and flew away and in close pursuit was Hakim.

Suddenly a bunch of Ox pushed past Po and chased after Hakim, Po scratched his head until a light bulb went off inside of it, "Wait a minute that was Hakim! Who were those big guys chasing him? What the hell is going on in this town?" Po ran off after the group.

Because of his height Hakim easily managed to get a fair distance ahead of everyone else, Po quickly climbed up onto the rooftops to easily plot out where Hakim would go, he saw the bird fly into an alleyway so the panda made his way over to it and jumped down into it. He landed in front of the ox who swung an axe at his head, Po gasped, quickly ducked then pushed off of them which made the ox tumble into each other.

Po saw a flash of a tattoo on the Ox's arm before he sprinted away, it was a picture of a circle with a line through it. _"These guys are alchemists"_, though Po worriedly, alchemists were no joke, they were well known to be ruthless and skillful. _"I wonder how valuable the object in the case was to them if they are willing to reveal themselves like this."_ Suddenly Po saw the perfect person he could ask.

Po saw Hakim running at the other end of the alley so he increased his pace to catch up, Hakim got out of the alleyway and jumped over the railing that was covering it, Po managed it as well but just barely, suddenly two wagons appeared out of nowhere which Po dived between. When the panda hit the ground he huffed and cursed at the bird. He quickly got up and resumed his pursuit.

Up ahead the bird flew into a market place and underneath some fruit stands, Hakim slid under them and got back upright when he reached the end, the move looked very stylish to everyone at the market and they applauded him not realizing what he was doing or who he actually was. The market place lead Hakim to a bridge over a river, he jumped for the crane but a large black and white foot caught him in the face, Hakim hit the ground hard.

The mongoose recovered quickly though and jumped back to give himself more room to battle the panda, "What are you some bounty hunter or some pathetic animal rights activist" Hakim asked, Po adopted a boxing stance and started to move about on the balls of his feet, "You really do make me laugh Hakim, risking your life for this pathetic bunch of feathers that's probably only worth a fistful of yen", the crane rolled his eyes at Po's comment.

Hakim growled, "What's it to you bounty hunter scum?" Po chuckled, "Nothing but a giggle, but you're worth a barrel's worth of yen my friend!" Po ran at Hakim and threw a punch and it connected, the mongoose barely flinched and countered.

The crane watched the intense fight with little interest, he started out on the river and admired the water's flow. Po wiped his mouth of the blood he had got there from biting his lip, "Not bad Hakim" he said.

The crane suddenly ran in-between them and tried to jump over the bridge into the river, Hakim immediately bolted towards the bird to catch it, the mongoose jumped off the bridge to try and catch the bird in mid-air. The crane started flapping his wings and Hakim cursed at being tricked by him, Po cursed "Damn it" his bounty was getting away!

The panda jumped in after him but the crane grabbed by Po by the foot and flew off with him, "Hey let go of me!" Po yelled, he could see Hakim getting further and further away as he went down the river, Po sighed.

They flew for a bit before Crane dumped Po outside of the metal gate where he had started, the panda picked himself off of the ground and glared at the bird who smirked smugly at him, "Thanks for that! I saved you and you made me lose my bounty!" The crane rolled his eyes, Po face palmed and started to walk back to the 'Bebop' to tell Ping about his failure.

The crane followed him, Po heard him and waved his hand to get him away, "Go away, you're not coming back with me, I don't want a pet!" The crane ignored him and continued to follow, Po just decided to deal with it back at the 'Bebop', he was tired and in a foul mood.

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"So let me get this straight Po" Ping said in amusement, "You chased Hakim for a couple of blocks before this bird helped you?" Po folded his arms, "Yes" he huffed. Ping burst out laughing, "That's hilarious" he said while wiping a tear away.

"I can't believe I went through all that just for this stupid crane!" Po yelled while jabbing a finger in the avian's face, Crane looked at him for a second then he bit Po's finger, the panda quickly withdrew it and yelled in agony. Ping started to laugh again, "You may have lost our money Po, but it was totally worth it for this, this is too funny".

"I hate three things in this world Ping! Kids. Women with attitudes and avians!" Po yelled, Ping smirked, "I came up with a plan for getting Hakim while you were gone just on the off chance that you failed…it's lucky I did too" Ping bragged.

Po sat down, "I'm all ears".

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Two young sheep were fishing by a river just outside of Shandong when one of the rods started to bend from something on the other end latching onto it. "Whoa it's big!" Yelled one of them in excitement, the other sheep helped him pull their catch.

Suddenly Hakim walked out of the river with the hook from the fishing rod stuck in his arm, he ripped it out and threw it onto the floor, the sheep gasped and backed away from him thinking that he was some kind of monster.

Hakim looked at them, "What time is it?" He asked calmly, one of the sheep looked at a fob watch he had on him, "It-it's four o clock right on the money!"

Hakim frowned, "Just two more hours" he said to himself, yes, only two more hours until he had to meet his contact and deliver the crane to him. He didn't want to waste any time so Hakim walked past the sheep and made his way back to Shandong to find the panda who he presumed had stolen his property.

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The ox and the buffalo were once again sitting at the same table as they had been a few hours ago. Their agents had chased after the mongoose and the panda earlier today and had failed to catch either of them. "Who was that running with Hakim, was it one of his boys?" Asked the Ox. "Seems that way" agreed the buffalo.

The ox slammed his fist into the table, "We've got no clues! We've got to find it! If it falls into the hands of activists or law enforcement then we're in trouble." The buffalo nodded again, "Seem that way."

The Ox glared at him, "Don't you ever say anything else?"

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Po walked through the streets of Shandong once again, however this time he was walking around with his least favourite person in the world. It had been Ping's idea for the panda to walk around with the crane just in case he happened to bump into Hakim again, using the bird as bait didn't go over well with the bird but Po didn't give him much of a choice.

Po sighed, "Really great plan here Ping" he said sarcastically, "Well here's another great moment in the legend of Po. Famous bounty hunter and escorter of uppity birds" The crane ignored him but suddenly just stopped in the middle of the street. Po walked into him, "Hey! Why'd you stop?"

He saw his answer in front of him. A very wet and angry looking mongoose was glaring at the two of them at the end of the street, Po pushed past the bird and pointed at Hakim, "Hey I've been looking for you Hakim, now just give so I can get my money!"

Before Hakim could answer the crane flew past Po and ran away, it clearly didn't want to be put inside that case again, "Hey wait!" Yelled Po, _"Ah screw it! I'll get him back later, Hakim is the real prize here" _the panda reminded himself.

While the panda was thinking to himself Hakim had already started running after the bird, "Dammit! Not this again!" Complained Po, he chased Hakim down the street through market stalls, Hakim knocked over apples and over fruits to try and trip Po up and lose him but the panda dodged all of it effortlessly.

The crane flew to the top of a building, Hakim quickly parkoured his way up to the roof and tackled him, the bird struggled desperately but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get out of Hakim's steel grip. Po saw them go to the roof and managed to get up there…..albeit a lot less gracefully then Hakim.

Hakim held the bird by the neck, when Po got up there panting heavily Hakim used the crane as a hostage, "Don't come any closer panda or I'll break your friend's neck!" Po shrugged, "He's not my friend and I'm after you for your bounty, you can do what you like with him" he replied gesturing to the bird.

Hakim growled, while he wasn't looking the crane pecked Hakim harshly in the eye blinding him, Hakim yelled and dropped the bird, Po saw his chance and ran over to catch the mongoose, Hakim stumbled in a panic and fell off of the building, Po heard a sickening crunch the he looked over the side of the building, the bird went to look at what he had caused but Po moved away from the edge and pulled him away from it, "You really don't want to see that" he said. They walked off of the building and left Shandong.

A large group of ox had been watching the scene, however they had only gotten there when Hakim had hit the ground, they had no idea what had actually happened, to them it looked like Po had pushed Hakim off of the roof and killed him "We'd best get out of here, that pandas a monster. Let's just say to the boss that the bird was killed", they all nodded and murmured their agreement.

XXXXXXX

"So let me get this straight, I've nearly been killed about ten times today each by and of course in no particular order; Abdul Hakim a very large and angry mongoose who knows how to throw a very painful punch, a group of ninja alchemist guys who attacked me because I happened to be there and finally the thing that made everything worthwhile…we got him!" Ranted Po sarcastically while pointing at the crane they had picked up.

The crane in reply just scowled at Po and he still hadn't said a word since they had got back to the 'Bebop', this only seemed to infuriate Po more and remind him of the reward they had missed out on.

Ping looked at the crane questioningly, "Well we're stuck with him now Po, what should we call him?" Ping had a small smile on his face which Po saw, "You can't honestly be happy about this?" Po asked, "I lost 8 million yen because of that bird!"

Ping rolled his eyes, "Calm down Po, there's always next time", Po sat back down and sighed, "Fine, he's your 'pet' you call him what you want". The crane frowned at being called a pet.

Ping thought for a second, "How about Crane?" Po face palmed and groaned, "Seriously? Crane!?" A scowl from both Crane and Ping shut him up, he folded his arms, climbed on top of the 'Bebop' and laid down looking at the sky.

Ping smirked, "Sorry about that Crane, he's a bit gruff but you get used to him after a while". Crane sat down and Ping went to get the 'Bebop' moving again, he knew that even if he was offered the chance Po most likely wouldn't give Crane to those alchemists…..at least the goose hoped so anyway.

Po looked at the sky, _"At least if we get hungry we can eat that stupid bird!" _he thought angrily, his stomach rumbled as if to taunt him. Po growled and tried to ignore it.

**See You Dragon Warrior**

**So Crane has joined the crew of the 'Bebop', I hope that people like the change I've made to his character.**

**I've decided to make a major decision in regards to this story, I will be adapting every single session of the show that much is obvious. However what I've decided to do is make an adaption of the movie 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' as well, this will be a long one as it's an hour and a half movie so expect it to be a marathon read. I have also decided to make my own stories to add to this canon, what I mean is there are 26 episodes of Cowboy Bebop, there will be about 30 chapters of this stories because I will be making my own sessions in conjunction with the ones in the show, the movie will also be a part of this story and will take place between 23 and 24. If I enjoy making my own stuff in this canon I may add more sessions as I go along so take the 30 chapter's thing with a grain of salt.**

**I hope you enjoyed this and I implore you to review it even if you didn't.**

**Teaser**

"**Nothing is permanent. It's a fact of life"**

"**The bell tolls for the great ones who will someday fall."**

"**I wandered through all of the reaches of China…..and then I met a cowboy. A session to the tune of an off-key melody".**

"**Next time on Dragon Warrior Blues".**

**Honky Tonk Tigress **


	3. Session 3: Honky Tonk Tigress

**The Dragon Warrior Blues**

**Session #3 Honky Tonk Tigress**

**I can tell that people wanted to see Tigress from the very start and see what I've changed with her character so this one's for those people, I know people are going to be a bit…..unsure about the change which I can understand. I just want to clear something up which I didn't manage to get across in the last chapter, Crane isn't a pet, he's a mute, Po just calls him a pet to irritate him and because he's mute he can't say anything back. So let's do this!**

XXXXXXX

Urumqi. For some the very name inspired desperation and decadents, it was a city near the center of China, despite China's current harshness it was well known that this wasn't the place to start a family or a place to travel to if you were ever seeking work.

One such person who had come to Urumqi to seek work was Lester, he was a rat who had created his own general store on a street corner and he had lived in the dive for about three years now. During that time he had been robbed about three times and assaulted six.

In all the time he had lived here Lester had never had his store completely totaled, however that all changed when _she _walked through the door.

It was about ten to eleven on a relatively calm Saturday night, the chaos that was omnipresent outside had died down slightly, Lester appreciated in these tiny moments just because he could hear himself think, he would never again underestimate the power of silence. He leaned on his counter and sighed happily, his peacefulness was disturbed by the bell above his shop door ringing to tell him someone had just walked in.

He looked up and he saw her. She was a tall tiger wearing a flowing green robe and blue pants that had golden vine patterns and black trim around the edges, she had a straw hat pulled down over her eyes but a piece of straw was sticking out of the bottom of it. She approached the counter with a strong walk which showed some femininity but enough toughness to tell potential threats not to mess with her.

When she got to the counter she removed the hat, the first thing Lester noticed about her was that she was strikingly beautiful, her face was soft looking but also had a slight edge to it, her features like her stripes made her look distinguished and her lips were a natural ruby red. The second thing was her eyes, they were a brilliant amber color like fire in the night; they conveyed a confidence and a layer of authority.

The tigress leaned on the counter and stared deeply at the rat, he felt a chill go down his spine at her strong gaze. She smirked at him mischievously which helped to alleviate his anxiety a bit around her.

"Do you see something you like?" she teased, the rat blushed and couldn't make himself look away from her, "Y-yes very much so" Lester stuttered, Tigress jumped onto the counter and sat down on top of it, she angled her body so she was only slightly looking at the rat.

There was an awkward silence for a while, Lester had never had a woman act this way around him in his entire life and the tiger was waiting for him to inevitability try and make conversation with her. "So, are you looking for a job here in Urumqi?" Lester asked, the tiger feigned disinterest "No not really, I'm just passing through to be honest".

The rat shrugged, "It's a shame really, you look like you'd fit in here well" Lester panicked when he realized what he had just implied, "I-I'm sorry I wasn't trying to imply th-", the tigress shushed him, "Did you hear that?" She asked. Lester shook his head confusedly, she gracefully leaped off of the counter not making a sound when she hit the ground.

She walked up to the door and put her ear up to it, she tensed when she heard a movement then she moved away quickly. The door was kicked off of its hinges and flew into the counter, Lester luckily got out of the way of it; the tiger stood up and immediately put her guard up. Some wolves walked into the store and removed weapons from their person and brandished them at the tiger.

She cracked her knuckles, "Hey rat boy!" She yelled at the terrified Lester, he squeaked in reply "Do you want to know the first rule of combat?" She quickly punched a wolf into one of the stores shelves toppling it, there was a mighty crash and when the smoke had cleared the wolf had been crushed by it.

"Always attack them before they can attack you" she answered smugly, the wolves growled at the loss of their comrade and started to surround the tiger, she tried to watch all sides but she was caught off guard by a blow to the small of her back, she twisted her body round and jumped up on the wolf's shoulders, she used the strength in her legs to throw his down to the ground.

She saw two coming at her from opposite sides so she bounced off of the floored wolf and hit the two approaching ones with both of her fists, she flipped onto her feet again athletically and faced the last one down. He looked at his fallen comrades and sighed, "You're more trouble then you're worth women!" The tigress laughed, "I'll take that as a compliment".

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to resort to this", she frowned in response, "Resort to what?" The wolf cupped his mouth with his hands and yelled outside, "Oh DREDGER!" There was silence for a few seconds before large footsteps could be heard, a seven foot tall bare-chested wolf walked into the store and looked around at what had happened then he looked at his boss, "Il y a un problème?", The wolf nodded then turned to the tigress, "He's not that great with English I'm afraid"

When she saw the huge wolf she immediately surrendered knowing full well that there was no hope of ever winning in a fight against him, "I surrender" she freely admitted. The tiger held her arms above her head then placed her hands behind her, "Quite an elaborate way to get a girls attention" she remarked dryly, it drew no laughs from the wolves however.

XXXXXX

The tiger was roughly pushed into a room and forced to sit down, they had taken her away from the shop and taken her to a remote building just on the outskirts of Urumqi, at least that's what she figured she had been blindfolded the other time and must of lost track of their location after the first hour. They had also handcuffed her but unlike the blindfold they still hadn't taken those off yet.

The room that she was now in was quite snazzy, it had treasures and trinkets all over the walls. She eyed some of them up and automatically began thinking of ways to sneak some of them out so she could sell them. "You wouldn't get very far with any of them I'm afraid" came a deep voice, she turned and saw a smartly dressed wolf enter the room, he looked more important than the others so she reasonably assumed this one to be the real brains of the organisation.

He walked over to her, "I had no idea that the famous Tigress; Lady Luck herself was still alive! How you've managed to elude death from all you've stolen from is beyond me honestly", Tigress narrowed her eyes, "You should ask your boys I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you…..after they've woken up of course" she added sweetly, "Oh and tell them it was no hard feelings from me, I just don't like people getting in my way". The wolf scowled at her, "I've heard that you've accrued quite a large debt, I've heard about your talents and I want you to do me favor for me, in return I will clear your debt and you can walk away with none of that baggage".

Tigress smirked, "Why would I want to help you", the wolf grinned at her evilly, "I'm so glad you asked, you're worth quite a lot apparently, I could just hold you here and tell every bounty hunter in China to come and claim their reward".

Tigress scowled at him, she sighed, "Alright fine, what do you want me to do?"

XXXXXX

_Meanwhile_

"Ping, why have we come to Urumqi? Everyone knows how bad this place is" asked Po, him, Ping and Crane were on the outskirts of the city sitting in the 'Bebop', the goose was sitting looking through a telescope at the city gates. He folded the scope back up and put it inside his coat, "Because Po I happen to know of an extremely good place in there to play a high stakes game of Mah-jong, we really need some money at the moment and I'm feeling lucky today" the goose finished excitedly.

Po sighed, "You say that about every game you play and I've never, ever seen you win, the last time you did this we wasted all of the money we got from the bounty we got on that rat remember?" Po explained irritably. Ping literally waved away his concerns, "Those other games were flukes".

Po rolled his eyes, _"Uh huh, I'm sure that they were"_. The goose got off of the 'Bebop', "Come on Po, I need you with me for muscle just in case some guys try to get wise with me" the goose looked at Crane who started to climb down from the 'Bebop' after Po. "Actually Crane you're going to stay here" said Ping, Crane's beak opened to show his disagreement, "We need someone to guard the wagon while we are inside" Ping explained.

The goose started to walk off towards the gates, Crane irritably got back into the 'Bebop' and decided to get some shut eye, before leaving Po stuck his head back into the 'Bebop', "Believe me Crane, I want to swap places too, now I'm stuck with that guy for the next three hours or more" Po complained, the bird looked at him distastefully.

Po simply shrugged and went to follow Ping inside.

XXXXXX

Po and Ping were now inside the place that the goose had been talking about and it was much rougher then he had described, actually as Po remembered it the goose had talked this place up like it was some kind of heavenly Jade Palace. They were on the staircase leading up to it and they were talking about their destination.

"So why do you think that today you're suddenly going to be extremely good at Mah-jong?" Po asked, "When your entire track record tells both me and Crane the complete opposite", Ping smirked to himself, "So you're finally warming to Crane then Po?"

Po shook his head, "Just because we're united in our distaste that does not indicate any type of friendship what so ever!" Ping put his wings up, "Alright Po calm down".

Ping decided to tell the panda his amazing sign, "I was dreaming last night of this turtle named Oogway", Po scoffed "Oogway? What a ridiculous name, why do I feel like this guy is going to be the reason you feel you had to lose the last of our 5,000 yen?" Ping merely rolled his eyes. They finally arrived at the place, it had a lot of stairs leading up to it and the building was pretty large…..if a bit ghastly looking.

They came up to the large red doors and opened them, the inside was a spectacle alright with dank, dark floorboards and a sense of melancholy the air, Po put his hands on his hips, "Well I'm gonna be honest" he declared, "This is a lot worse than I thought and there is a horrible taste in the air…..ah yes it's the taste of defeat!" He finished dramatically.

The goose ignored him and led him over to the bar, "Listen Po, we'll play at different sections of the building, if we both end up winning a lot it'll look suspicious, I'll meet you here in three hours understand?" Po nodded and walked off to explore the place, Ping waited into he was gone then he grinned madly, "I've always wanted to take a lot of money off of people".

XXXXXX

Po wandered around for a little bit trying to find a decent table to indulge himself in Mah-jong, he was beginning to lose interest until a table caught his eyes; he immediately walked over to it. When he got closer he stopped, dealing at the table was the most beautiful tigress he had ever seen, Po lost himself in her looks for a few seconds, a flash of another women popped into his head for a fleeting moment.

He roughly shook his head and stood next to the table, he waited until it had a vacancy before asking to join. "Excuse me miss", the tigress looked at him and Po saw her amber eyes for the first time, "Yes?" she replied. Po smiled softly at her, "Would you mind if I join the game?" he said with all of his charm. The tigress oddly looked away from him for a second before nodding and returning his smile, Po pulled the chair out and sat down, the game began.

The game went horribly for Po, he lost all of his money to the tiger and looked like a fool in front of everyone, the panda didn't seem to care however, he spent the whole game stealing glances at the tiger and concentrating on her fully when he should have been concentrating on the game. It wasn't just him however, everyone seemed to be losing to the tiger, she was like a vacuum for their money and it never ended.

XXXXXX

_About two hours before Po showed up_

_Tigress waited to hear the wolf's response, he walked over to the balcony and looked out onto the Valley below "You will go to a Mah-jong table in a building that we will escort you to and in there you will play the game until your target arrives, he will lose all of his money and you will of course use your talents to see to that. He will give his last remaining chip to you as a gesture of goodwill"._

_Tigress yawned, "That's great, what about it?" The wold turned to look at her and gave her a toothy grin, "Put that chip in my hand and all of your debts will disappear." Tigress tilted her head in confusion, "What's so important about that chip?" She thought to herself._

XXXXXX

_Present_

Po sighed, only he and the pretty tigress were left on the table, she had robbed everyone else and they had left before things had got truly bad for them. She leaned forward and looked deeply into Po's eyes as if she was challenging him, "I'm afraid panda that this will be my final game, I don't like stealing from the poor", Po smirked, "What a shame, it appears I'm neither skillful nor lucky when it comes to you."

"Then what are you panda?" She asked smugly, Po leaned back in his chair, "Very generous apparently" referring to the many chips he had given away. She won the next game and helped herself to Po's last chips, he held aloft the last one he owned, "You cleaned me out" he remarked, "I only have this chip left".

The tiger held out her hand expectantly, Po got up out of the chair, "I think I'll keep it as a souvenir", her face dropped as the panda left. "Hey! Wait Hey! Come back here!" Po ignored her though, he was annoyed at losing but he didn't want to show it.

He walked back through the room and looked at some graffiti that was on the wall, he had almost finished reading it but he was cut off by bumping into someone, he dropped his chip onto the floor and the panda fell down too.

Po got back up and held his hand out to the guy he had knocked over, he noticed that it was a rabbit, "Hey man sorry about that I was watching where I was going" Po chuckled, the rabbit ignored him and crawled about on the floor looking for something, when he couldn't find it the rabbit got up and ran around desperately.

Po blinked at him dumbfound, he felt something under his foot so he lifted it up and took a look, he found his chip on the floor which he picked up and put back into his pocket. When he stood back up the tiger from before was in his face again, this time she had an angry frown on her face which diminished her beauty somewhat.

"Hey you! What happened to your generosity? You're messing up the whole plan" she hissed in her face, Po stood completely still unfazed by her aggression. She held out her hand again, "Now give me that chip!" Po frowned at her, "You're pretty brash aren't you? You cheated the whole game and I didn't say a word!"

She gasped at being caught out and Po continued to frown at her, she heard the whispering around her start and the cracking of knuckles. Tigress looked around and started to panic, "Just give me the damn chip panda!" Po rolled his eyes, then he had an idea.

He held it above him and titled his head up, he dropped the chip into his open mouth and then swallowed it, Tigress growled and moved forward to strangle the panda but a movement behind her made her change her mind. She turned around and saw a group of three wolves walk towards her with very threatening expressions.

The tiger turned around and looked at Po one more time with panic in her eyes, then she quickly bolted towards the exit, she pushed past Po on the way which annoyed him, he rubbed his arm softly then turned on his heel to find Ping.

A strong, firm paw grabbed hold of Po's arm and stopped him in his tracks, he turned and looked at his escort. They looked incredibly strong underneath their work clothes which consisted of vests and silk pants.

"Yeah, what is it?" Po asked irritably, "Excuse me sir we're gonna need you to come to the office with us", "Why?" Po asked accusingly. "Our "manager" has some questions that he'd like to ask you".

Po didn't move from his spot, "Like what?" The wolf punched him in the face, Po stumbled but didn't show any sign of pain. He slowly stood back and smirked at the wolves who were aping dumbly at him, "Bad move". Po kicked the leader in the face and quickly dispatched the other two with quick jabs.

Po saw a larger group of wolves running towards him, he would wager he wouldn't be able to beat all of them by himself so he decided to fall back and find Ping, "I love the fitness regime that you guys have here but I'm gonna have to split" Po turned on his heel and he sprinted to the opposite end of the building to find the goose.

The panda frantically tipped tables over and dodged innocent gamblers, he had almost began to give up hope of finding the small goose. Suddenly he saw Ping walking cheerfully in his direction, the goose wasn't looking up so he didn't see Po almost crash into him, the panda quickly checked to see if the others had followed him which to his dismay they spotted him and ran towards them.

When he turned back towards Ping Po saw that the goose was carrying a large brown box, "What have you got there?" Po asked, Ping smirked with pride, "My winnings for the night, you should have more faith in me Po my gut instinct is never wrong". Po grabbed the goose's shoulder and shook him roughly "Right, whatever. Ping we've got to get out of here!" Po yelled, Ping sighed "What have you done now Po?" Po groaned, "Why do you always assume it's me?" he asked, "Because it usually is?" Ping yelled back.

They went to move but their path was blocked by a group of fierce looking wolves, "And just where do you think you're going?" the leader sneered. Po shrugged, "Well preferably somewhere where we don't have to beat you guys up, I don't like cleaning the blood off of myself". Ping rolled his eyes, "Nice work Po that'll calm the situation right down".

The wolves surrounded them, "You have something that belongs to us panda and we want it back!" Po and Ping went back to back, "I don't know what you're talking about" he said innocently. "It doesn't matter anyway because this won't take long" quipped Ping, the wolf laughed, "You think so runt?" He cupped his mouth with his paws and called out "Oh Dredger!"

Po and Ping smirked because this looked like an easy fight, their smirks were wiped off of their faces however when they heard massive footsteps, a huge wolf appeared and looked at the pair of them, ""Il y a un problème?" he said, Po sighed as things got a whole lot harder for them.

Po pointed at the big wolf, "Meat" then he moved his finger towards the smaller ones, "Or potatoes?" He asked Ping, the goose frowned, "Seeing as how I've now lost all of my winnings because of you which also means we've lost even more money than we started with you can get the big guy, hopefully he hits you really hard".

Po nodded, "Thanks for the confidence" he nodded at the smaller guys, "That means that they're yours", the goose nodded. There was a small awkward silence as everyone readied their selves, Ping suddenly threw his winnings at the wolves and engaged them, it hurt the goose to throw away all that money but it was either that or getting killed.

Po watched that fight start but he simply stared the wolf down, the big guy walked towards Po and reached out towards him. Po slapped his hand away and moved back slightly, the wolf snarled and reach out again, Po slapped his hand away again.

The wolf thought the third time might be the charm so he did it again, Po went to hit him again but the wolf grabbed the panda's arm and picked Po up with his free arm, the panda drew a sharp breath and gasped. Po was held above the big guy's head then thrown across a nearby table, Po slid over the table and crashed into a wall, the table broke from the damage and one of the legs rolled towards Po.

The panda quickly got up but lurched into the wall as he felt the pain reach him, he picked the loose leg off of the floor and hit the Dredger's kneecap with it, Po heard a crunch and the wolf groaned in pain and fell over. Po went to do it again but he felt the leg break in his hands, apparently it had been more damaged then the panda had dared to think.

Po looked at the dust in his hands, he was so preoccupied by that that he felt a massive paw grab him by the throat, it pushed him onto the ground and the Dredger started to strangle him. Po felt life escaping him, _"Is this the one that finally kills me?" _Po thought in amusement, he tried desperately to get the large wolf of him but he was too strong. _"I accept it then"_ he concluded, the panda did nothing to resist it and he could feel the cold embrace of death until…..

One of the smaller wolves crashed into the Dredger and floored him, Po coughed as air rushed back into him and he got up, Ping was standing nearby with his arms folded and with a smirk. "You're lucky they underestimated me otherwise that would have been it for you huh?"

Po nodded, picked himself up and brushed the dust off of himself, he stumbled over to the goose and they quickly exited. The terrified onlookers immediately moved out of their way, after seeing what the little goose had done to that massive wolf none of them wanted to take any chance with either of the pair of them.

Po barged the large red doors open and held them for his friend, they sprinted down the staircase and made their way to the 'Bebop', "We need to skip this town immediately Po, we don't know how far that gang's influence spreads" Ping ordered, Po nodded wordlessly.

They saw the wagon in the distance, when they got closer they could see that it was moving about as if there was a fight going on inside. Po silently told Ping to wait there while he investigated, the goose nodded and waited just in case needed backup.

Po slowed his breathing down and crouched, he walked slowly towards the 'Bebop'. As he got closer he started to the flapping of wings along with some feminine cries. Po gasped, _""Crane!"_ Po thought worriedly. He stopped his slow walk and ran over to help the avian, he looked inside and could have laughed at the picture.

The tigress from earlier was pinned on the ground being pecked at by Crane, the tiger noticed Po and sighed heavily, "What are you doing here panda? I don't need you help!" She hissed. Po smirked, folded his arms and leaned up against the 'Bebop', "Well I don't know, from here it looks like you're having a bit of trouble. Also this is my ride so I'm going to have to ask you to leave".

Po put his fingers to his lips and blew hard making a whistling sound, Ping recognized the signal and came out of cover, he saw Po was leaning casually and smirking so the goose thought it can't have been serious. He went over to the 'Bebop' and looked in, he laughed at the sight "What do we have here Po?"

Po did a mock puzzled face, "I believe that this person is the reason you lost all your money Ping", Ping frowned, "Is that so Po?" The panda nodded and waited to see what happened.

XXXXXXX

The smartly dressed wolf who had tasked Tigress with getting the chip stood over the rabbit who had lost that very chip, the rabbit was in bad shape after having been beaten up by the wolf's thugs. "He doesn't have it, the chip he was carrying was a fake" said the wolf boss's right hand man.

The wolf boss scowled down at the injured bunny, "Neither you nor your boss were told why we cooked up this whole plan in the first place, and there is a reason for that" he snarled, the rabbit remained motionless, he probably wasn't going to move again for what remained of his life.

The wolf boss turned the rabbit over with his foot and looked into his eyes, "That chip is absolutely crucial to my plans, and now because you have failed me" he pulled out a knife and moved closer to the rabbit.

"Boss wait!" Said the right hand wolf, "What about the girl? She ran away from us as soon as she saw us, could she have taken the chip?" The wolf boss shrugged, "I don't know, but put a price out on her pretty little head".

"It's time to say goodnight" he said to the rabbit.

XXXXXXX

"This is embarrassing" complained Tigress, she was sat in the back of the 'Bebop' with Po and Crane guarding her, her paws were bound and Po was sat right next to her.

"I couldn't care less, until you give me back all of the money you made me lose then you're staying with us!" Yelled Ping from the front, Tigress rolled her eyes and stared at the floor, Po looked at her and decided to try and break the ice, "So what's your name?"

Tigress ignored him, Po sighed, "Look you're going to be with us for a while you might as well open up a bit!" Tigress bit her lip anxiously, "My name is Tigress". Po smiled, "That's a beautiful name, my names Po, that mute over there is Crane and the goose that you now owe a lot of cash is Ping".

Tigress frowned, "Well if you had given me that chip as was agreed then none of this would have happened", Po looked blankly at her, "What chip?" Tigress gestured at his stomach, "The one you ate you moron! The guy I was working for said he'd-"Tigress stopped herself before revealing too much.

Po shrugged, "Well I don't know anything about that but if it's worth a lot of money then I should probably bargain with him for it what do you say?" He finished with a smile. Ping stopped the 'Bebop' by a roadside, "There's a town up ahead Po, I'm just going to see if I can get the 'Big Shot' that has probably just been delivered, Crane you're coming with me", "Ok!" Po yelled back.

The panda nodded at Crane who was glad for the exercise, he climbed out of the wagon and followed Ping.

The panda stood up and stretched, "Why is this chip worth so much to that guy Tigress?" She shrugged, "I don't know he just asked me to get it", she looked up at him sadly, "I just want to clear my debts so I can go and see my children again" She put her head in her hands and started to cry.

Po immediately felt bad and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I didn't know about that, I'm so sorry." Tigress looked back up at him with tears in her eyes, "Please just give me the chip and let me go", Po decided to give her a break, "Hang on I'll be right back", he left the 'Bebop' for a second.

When he was gone Tigress smirked to herself, _"What an idiot! I can't believe he fell for that!"_ She heard an odd sound come from outside and Po quickly returned with the chip in his hands, Tigress quickly resumed her act. Po looked at her sympathetically, "Before I give you this and untie you could you tell me how much this is really worth?" He asked with a soft smile.

Tigress nodded slowly, "Yes, it's worth about 5 million yen, now will you please let me go?" Po looked at the chip with a newfound respect, he tossed it in the air and caught it, "Five million for just this?"

Tigress was silent, she had done all she needed to trick him and now the panda just needed to release her then she could steal it back and give it back to the wolf boss. Po smiled at her and leaned close to her face, "I'm glad you're being so honest with me Tigress so it makes me feel like I can trust you" Po cleared his throat, "The truth is that I never believed you and I was just waiting to see if you would tell me how much it was worth" Po beamed in her face.

Tigress snarled at him, "Damn you panda!" She had never been tricked like that before. Po pointed at her angry face, "Now _that _is what I call the face of beauty, thanks for the help lady." He took his seat next to her again, "Now when my partner comes back we can discuss getting this thing back to him". Tigress stewed angrily next to him.

"How did you know I was lying panda!?" Po closed his eyes and put his arms behind his head, "Where I come from it's a natural ability to be able to lie, you're not so good at it" he remarked. Po heard footsteps outside and went to investigate.

He saw Ping and Crane coming up the dirt path towards him, Po showed them the chip, "Hey guys! I got the chip". Ping nodded and walked over to him, Po handed him the chip, Ping held it in his wing and frowned, "Why is it wet?" he asked dubiously.

Po with a straight face replied, "Because I just threw it up", Ping gasped and threw it on the ground, "Po that's disgusting, clean it and give it back!" Po picked it up and rubbed it on his shorts, when it was spotless he handed it back to Ping.

The goose inspected it, his ran his wing over the edge of it and found a tiny switch, he pressed it and the chip opened up revealing a tiny key. Po and Crane moved closer to see what it was, "What does it do?" asked Po, Ping shook his head, "I have no idea, but I know who might" he said glancing at the 'Bebop'.

The goose climbed in with Po and Crane following, he held the chip in Tigress's face, "What is this?" he asked. Tigress looked at it oddly before looking up at Ping and shrugging, "I don't know, I wasn't told what was special about the chip, only that I was to give it to the guy who wanted it and that was it!"

Ping sat down and examined the key a bit more, Po saw that Crane had hold of the issue of 'Big Shot', he tapped Crane on the shoulder, "Hey Crane, can I see that?" Crane nodded and handed it over. Po read through the magazine for something to take his mind off of the situation, the headlines caught his attention and he gasped at the find.

He read through it to make sure he wasn't mistaken then he looked over at Tigress, she caught his gaze, "What!?" Po turned the paper around and showed her it, on the front was a huge picture of her. Po turned it back to him and started to read it.

"Howdy amigos, who's ready for some 'Big Shot'? Today's huge bounty is a pretty tiger known as Tigress, she has stolen a chip from the local gambling establishment owner Mr Diagras, the bounty is 6 million yen and you can claim your reward by bringing Tigress directly to him at the water fountain in the centre of Urumqi". Po looked up and saw Tigress gaping at him from across the 'Bebop'.

Tigress couldn't believe that the wolf boss who she now knew his name was Mr Diagras had already put a bounty on her head.

Ping clapped his wings together, "Well, well, well, looks like we don't need the chip after all. All we need to do is hand the tiger over and we'll have doubled the winnings we would have got from gambling".

Tigress's breathing quickened, "You can't do that! He thinks I stole his chip and I didn't" she looked at Po, "It was you!" Po raised his hands up, "I didn't take it!" Po had a thought, "Come to mention I did my chip on the ground when I bumped into a rabbit".

Tigress gasped, "That's him! That's the guy I was supposed to get it from!" Ping shrugged, "Who cares, we still have it and we're still going to give you to him because of the reward he's offering".

Tigress scoffed, "Six million! Is that all they're offering?" Po smirked, "Why? How much do you think you're worth?" Tigress ignored him. Ping got back into the front of the 'Bebop' and began to take it back to Urumqi to meet with Diagras.

Po sat down and looked at Tigress, she looked angry but saw true fear in her eyes for the first time.

XXXXXX

They made it back to Urumqi quickly, neither Ping nor Po thought that they would be coming back here so soon after having nearly been killed here, Ping stopped where they had originally parked up and Po picked Tigress up and carried her out, he called back to Crane, "Sorry Crane but stay here with the 'Bebop' again, this won't take long" Crane nodded and immediately went to sleep.

Po stood Tigress up outside of the 'Bebop', "C'mon Po, let's go!" Ping called. Po nodded and grabbed Tigress's paw, he led her behind him. They walked through all of the surprisingly quiet city until they reached a damaged water fountain, there was a massive piece of metal sticking out of it and there was graffiti over all of it, Ping stopped and waited, "This is where the ad said to wait but there isn't anybody here".

Po stayed on alert, Tigress stood next to him trying to think of a way out of this while at the same time hurting Po and Ping. Po's ears went up when he saw a wolf in a suit walk out of the shadows, "Ahhh I see you got my invitation", Po stepped forward, "Diagras I presume? How did you know we were coming?"

Diagras flashed him a toothy grin, "My boy, I was going to say that to anyone who showed up honestly, I'm not sure who you are and I don't really give a damn. I think I can safely assume that you have my chip, give it back now and you might be able to climb out of your hospital bed".

Po smirked, "Well I'm not totally sure who you are giving me orders and I'm not going to give you anything" he pulled Tigress towards him, "Are we done now?"

Diagras sighed, "It's just a chip, why won't you give it back? It has no value to you". Ping stepped up, "Well I don't know, we've become rather fond of it and we know what it's worth" Diagras scowled at him and then at Tigress. "It's a master key, it doesn't matter what I need it for, give it back!"

Po smirked, "Ok, we'll go easy on you. How about 30 million for the magic key and 6 million for Tigress", Diagras waved his hand, "I don't need her now that I've got the key".

Po raised an eyebrow, "But you haven't got the key, we have". Diagras raised his arms and more wolves came out of the shadows, Po frowned, "Why do I say things?" Po said. Ping chuckled, "You must have seen what we did to your guys earlier, why do you think this will be any different?"

Diagras laughed, "Better motivation, if they don't kill you they know that I'll kill them!" Po let go of Tigress's paw and started to fight the wolves with Ping, Tigress watched the two's impressive moves until she realized that this was her chance to escape, she quickly broke into a sprint down an alleyway, Diagras saw her run away and he gestured for a large wolf to approach him, "Kill her and bring her head back to me", the Dredger nodded and ran after her.

Po jumped over to Diagras and engaged him, "Oh great" complained Diagras, "I get to fight the fat panda, honestly that tiny goose would have been more honorable", Po punched him in the face and sweeped his legs, "Hey! I don't call you names, then again you're probably trying to make up for the fact that you can't fight", Diagras roared angrily and threw a sloppy punch at Po that he dodged.

Diagras got more and more angry throughout their fight, it made him a reckless angry fighter and the wolf gave away too many punches to Po which the panda gladly executed.

Po grabbed his arm and threw Diagras into the broken water fountain, the wolf slipped and landed on the jagged metal piece that was sticking out of it. The wolf coughed up some blood and tried to pull himself off of it, "Looks like you've been impaled on your own sword Diagras" Po joked, the wolf snarled at him before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body slid down the blade.

Po looked over to Ping who seemed to be doing okay, he saw that Tigress had disappeared though, "Damn it" Po grunted as he ran after her.

Tigress came to a dead end, she stopped and tried to catch her breath, she waited to see if anyone followed her, they didn't so she started to try and get the ropes off of her wrists. She undid them and they fell down to the floor, she was just about to leave when the wall behind her was knocked down and a large hand came through the dust and grabbed her throat, Tigress gasped and tried to break away but the grip was too strong.

When the dust had cleared she saw that it was the large wolf that she had fought….or failed to fight earlier, she started to see darkness. As he choked her, the tiger had an idea. She put her paw against his face, unsheathed her claws and jabbed them into his eyes. The Dredger roared with pain and threw her away from him.

Before she hit the ground she up righted herself in mid-air and landed on her feet, she gasped when she saw the damage that she had done to the wold, one of his eyes was now firmly shut with blood coming out of it. He growled and ran at her again, Tigress slid underneath his feet, kicked his back and this sent the wolf hurtling into a wall.

Tigress got up and panted heavily, this fight was taking its toll on her. The wolf got up again although he was a bit slower then before, Tigress decided to try and stall, she pointed at his eye "Do you want me to take the other one?"

Po quickly appeared, he had followed the sounds of the conflict and he had found them. He looked at the Dredger, "You again? Don't you ever give up?" He winced however when he saw the wolf's wounded face, Po noticed Tigress, he pointed at the wolf's wound, "Is this your work?" Tigress looked at the panda, "Where is Diagras?" Po put his hands on his hips and smirked, "Well, you could say he was impaled on his o-"Tigress cut him off, "Don't make puns, good he's dead that means I can leave now".

She had forgotten about the current problem which advanced on her.

Tigress was punched to the ground by the Dredger, Po saw this and quickly leaped to her aid, he landed in between the two and stopped the wolf's next punch, it took both of Po's arms to block one fist and the panda was struggling. Before his strength gave out Po thought of something, he twisted the Dredger's wrist and threw him over his shoulder, the wolf landed on his neck and there was a sickening crunch.

Po panted and gasped for air, Tigress got back up "Why did you help me?" Po smiled at her, "Maybe I'm just a sucker for a pretty face" he turned serious, "Now get out of here before I change my mind" Tigress smiled at him honestly for the first time and ran past him, she stopped then came back. Po raised an eyebrow when she got closer, Tigress threw her arms around him and kissed him on the lips. Before he could get into it she pulled away and ran off.

Po touched his lips and smirked, "Huh" he said aloud.

XXXXXXX

Po and Ping were standing outside of the bar again, Po had the chip in his hand. "The only thing this chip is good for now is one last bet". Ping nodded, "We might as well use it and start straight from square one…again". They walked over to the door but Ping stopped before opening it.

The goose frowned at Po, "I can't believe she punched you and got away Po! You've beaten up so many other guys so why did this one make such a difference?" Po shrugged, "I don't know". The panda turned and he thought he saw a familiar figure standing on a rooftop they stood for a second before jumping off of the building.

Po smirked, shook his head and followed Ping inside.

**See You Dragon Warrior**

**For those who want more of an idea of what Tigress looks like in this story use this picture as a reference wiki/Tigress?file= **

**I hope you enjoyed this different interpretation of her, I know people might dislike it but you can't please everyone and it's more enjoyable to try something new and fail rather then write the same character forever, which is exactly the reason I got bored of 'The Dragon Warriors".**

**Teaser**

"**This sucks, this worlds a mess" complained Ping**

"**Take a look at the Bebop, it's a bigger mess here" retorted Po**

"**Bah, that's nothing, check out this news report 'Environmental Terrorists Want to Blow up Gongmen!'" **

**Po smirked, "That's perfect they can get rid of this stupid bird while they're at it" he said pointing at Crane who frowned in response.**

"**Next session The Gongmen Shuffle"**

**Po sighed, "Man I'm losing it"**


	4. Session 4: The Gongmen Shuffle

**The Dragon Warrior Blues**

**I don't ask for a review often but I'd really appreciate a few for my story, I work hard on it and I want to hear what people thought of it, even if it's just a "It's good" it makes it worthwhile writing it if I know that people want to tell me what they think about it. People seemed to really like the changes I made to Tigress's character, I'm glad as I know it's a bit different and takes a while to get used to, admittedly it was weird writing her like this when I'm more used to her being a gruff, angry character.**

**Session #4 the Gongmen Shuffle**

Tigress walked down the road panting heavily, it was incredibly hot and she had been walking for hours, as if to punctuate her misery her stomach growled loudly. "Oh shut up" she said to herself, she stopped for a second as her sensitive ears picked up a distant sound, it could have been her hunger, dehydration, boredom or that she hadn't spoken to anyone in days messing with her mind, but she believed she could hear movement.

She turned around and could have cried with relief when she saw a wagon in the distance coming down the road towards her, "YES! PEOPLE!" she yelled. Tigress quickly thought of an excuse she could use to guilt trip the people into giving her a ride to the nearest civilization, she pretended to interact with them.

"Hi, my names Tigress and I have a slight problem, I have been walking to find….well anything really for some time now, would you fine people consider letting me hitch a ride with you just for a little while?", she smiled when she had her story worked out and ran in the road and jumped up and down trying to get their attention.

The wagon completely ignored her and drove on, Tigress blinked for a few seconds to herself before the realization set it in on what had just happened, she face palmed. "DAMMIT! Why is everyone in such a hurry all of the time don't they know it's unhealthy?"

The tigress sighed and carried on walking, next time she would just steal some transport instead of appealing to people's hearts.

XXXXXXX

_Meanwhile_

"Tao's specialty is 'Sea Ram'" said Ping looking over the menu again, Po scratched his head, "What's 'Sea Ram'?"

"It used to be a harvest-able food, it come out of the Gongmen Sea until they over-fished the stuff and then it became a delicacy only eaten by those with enough money to buy it". Po decided to ask the important question, "Does it taste good?" he asked whilst licking his lips, Ping looked over the menu at him with a frown, "It's totally disgusting, people only eat it now for status because it's "In" now".

Po and Ping were in Tao's restaurant which was a small, out of the way restaurant that was on the way to Gongmen, they were going there to try and find their next huge bounty, the 'delicacy' they were going to eat represented the last of the winnings they had reclaimed using their last chip.

The hungry panda looked at his menu and saw that the only thing that he could eat within his price range was a couple of prawns, his stomach turned at the thought of them. "Yuck, I hate prawns!"

Po sighed, "Well in that case" he put his menu down and leaned back in his chair, "I guess I'm out". Ping put his menu down too, "None of this matters anyway, we're here to get 'him'" Ping nodded towards an Ox sitting round a table surrounded by women, he wore an expensive suit, he looked like the kind of guy who was style over substance, who only cared about what other people thought of him and he was making a huge amount of noise.

"Oh yeah" Po said dejectedly, he was actually really hungry and had been looking forward to watching Ping pay for his food.

A couple of tables across from them sat a family…well to anyone else it would have looked like an average family, there was a majestic looking female peacock sitting at the head and further down the table sat other peacocks who looked like her sons.

She was picking at her food (A tidy salad) which gave her an air of pompousness and showed off her precision with a blade. Her "Sons" were tearing angrily at the messy, unrefined prawns that they had ordered.

One of the young peacocks looked up at her and spoke with a mouthful of food, "So, Gatler's a spy?" The female Peacock frowned at him, "Do not talk with your mouth full, not now not ever", the voice was quiet, calm, collected but gave off a coldness which commanded respect and authority.

The young peacock gulped nervously, "But Mom! There's nothing to worry about now right? I mean, we cut him and his family up into pieces", the barbarity of what he had just said didn't register at all with the rest of them who continued to eat.

"Mom" put her fork down and coughed into her hand politely, "No it doesn't matter" she agreed, "One lost Animade doesn't mean much. We'll continue as initially planned, but when things go wrong _someone _has to take responsibility" she glared at the peacock who had brought the conversation up, "Right Harrison?"

He start to pant heavily and his pupils dilated, the others peacocks felt bad for him but overtaking that was their foremost thought of happiness at not raising their voices. "B-but Mama!" Harrison pleaded.

"Mom" went to start another sentence but a loud "HEY WAITER! GET OVER HERE AND BRING ME MY FOOD RIGHT NOW!" "Mom" turned around slowly in her chair and saw that the culprit of the yelling was a large, dumb looking Ox surrounded by a load of different floozies.

She got up and slowly and walked over to him.

Over on the other table Po and Ping were still on surveillance. Po smirked, "Should we just go over and grab him? Or should we at least give him the courtesy of letting him finish whatever he's doing, I mean let's be honest when he's in Chor-Gom then he won't get much of a chance to be surrounded by food and women" Ping went to reply but something caught his attention.

"Hey Po, look at that", a female and arrogant looking peacock was slowly walking over to their target. "Who is that?" asked Po, Ping raised an eyebrow, "I think I've seen her somewhere before".

The Ox looked up, "What do you want lady?" "Mom" took out a fan and started to fan herself, "Sir, I must request that you restrain your vocal cords for just a few seconds, my family and I are trying to eat our meals and your obnoxious voice is distracting us" she said, again her voice was cold, calm and collected but it carried the same ice that it had when she was talking to Harrison.

The Ox snickered arrogantly, "And what if I don't want to lady, what if I-" he didn't finish his sentence, it had happened too quickly for him to react, "Mom" had slashed his throat with the fan she had been carrying, blood started to flow from his neck and fall onto the ground.

The Ox's legs gave out and he collapsed onto the floor, he had died instantly after the blow. The girls that had been sitting around him screamed, the panic seemed to affect everyone in the restaurant as if it were a tidal wave, as people started to see what had happened more people ran for their lives.

Po and Ping saw what had happened and ducked down in cover, "By the gods!" Exclaimed Ping, even though he had years of experience the goose rarely saw violence as extreme as this. Soon the restaurant was deserted with only the "Family" left and Po and Ping ducked in cover.

The family all came together and looked at what "Mom" had done, Harrison walked over with a smirk on his face, "Nice one Mom, that'll teach people to have proper table manners" he chuckled which in turn led to all of the peacocks laughing but "Mom" remained silent however, the blood ran over her feathered feet and stained the white, she was also still looking at the corpse with a mild disinterest.

As if on cue a light bulb went off in Ping's head, "I remember who she is!" He hissed at Po, after witnessing what she was capable of the panda replied without taking his eyes off of her, "What? Who is she?". "I saw her picture in 'Big Shot', it was the issue that had that tiger lady on the front cover. The report said that the gang leader known as "Mom" was quickly amassing a fierce gang of like- minded individuals that she referred to as her family, she thinks that the world is coming to an end and she's determined to see it off in style, most of her crimes leave multiple corpses or mass destruction. Only last week she destroyed a hospital! Her bounty is worth 25 Million!"

Po frowned, "She seems like a nasty piece of work" he smirked, "Still that 25 Million does sound enticing, I think the risk of death seems worth it for that kind of cash". Ping nodded, "I agree, let's wait and see what she does and we can improvise around her actions."

"Mom" wiped her fan on the Ox's pants, she smirked cruelly at his body, the other peacocks ran to the entrance and made sure that no one was in cover waiting to ambush her, they also check to see if any amateur bounty hunters or law enforcement were waiting outside for them, "Mom come on!" Yelled Harrison in a panic, the peacock glared at him icily, "Don't rush me you insolent little cur!"

She felt a knife press against her neck, "Oh I don't know Ma'am, I'd listen to the kid if I were you" Po quipped, he and Ping had moved and snuck up behind them, but Ping however stayed in cover just in case they got the drop on Po.

The peacocks started to surround Po, the panda pressed the blade harder against "Mom's" throat, "There there children take it easy. You don't want to see your dear old mom hurt do you?" Po sneered.

Po yelled over his shoulder to Ping, "Ping! I think we're fine here, just check Morgan's body to make sure we can't bring him in and get his reward too", the goose sighed at the panda's overconfidence and went to check, he felt for a pulse but he unsurprisingly didn't find one, "I don't know Po, I would of thought the knife wound to the neck would of tipped you off but my prognosis is that he's dead!" He yelled at Po sarcastically.

Po sighed, "That's a shame, and he was such a nice guy too, always giving to charities and looking after the less fortunate" the panda smiled at the back of "Mom's" head, "It's a shame that you killed our target, he was worth quite a bit of money. Fortunately you're worth quite a lot more, 25 million yen will bring in a lot of food for me!"

The peacocks started to become agitated due to Po's mocking, "If you hurt one hair on her head then we're going to make you pay!" said one of them, Harrison nodded, "Yeah! We're gonna tear you t-". "That's enough" said "Mom" she didn't yell but it caught their attention, "These people are professional bounty hunters, there's nothing you can do for now".

Po raised an eyebrow in surprised, he thought that he would have had a bit more fight than that considering everything Ping had told the panda about this peacock. The peacocks were despondent, "Mom!" one of them cried, Mom however remained cool as if the separation of her "Family" didn't bother her.

"Take care of the base while I'm away, and wait for my signal" she commanded, the peacocks nodded, she smiled softly at them showing real emotion for the first time, "Don't worry children, I'll be back in no time". Po heard the distant sounds of law enforcement, "I'd skedaddle if I were you fella's, you _really _don't want to be here when _they _show up" Po said referring to the police.

The peacocks went to leave but not before a final goodbye from Harrison, "Hang in there Ma!" She regained the cold look in her eye when he spoke, "That reminds me Harrison, you'll get your punishment later when I return." A chill went down the peacock's spine, he went to bolt but the others grabbed onto him and started to drag him back to base, "Mother! MOM!" He yelled in terror as they left.

Po watched them leave then returned his attention to "Mom", "Its Harrison's lucky day, he's not going to see 'Mom' for a while". "Mom" simply ignored him and allowed herself to be taken away without a fight. "Po we have to bring her to the place in Gongmen to claim our reward" explained Ping, Po rolled his eyes, "I always hate getting the region specific bounties; they always want people to be brought to _them_"

XXXXXXX

Tigress rummaged through the wreckage looking for something to eat or drink, she had found the upturned cart after another three hours of walking. Tigress had actually thought she had gone insane for a little bit when she saw it just sitting there, on the off chance she wasn't going insane she decided to her indulge her potential insanity.

She almost wept with relief when she spotted an apple sitting on the ground, she rushed over to it, picked it up and without wasting anytime began to devour it, she wanted to savor the taste but her rumbling stomach refused to let her.

When she finished it she continued to look around to see if she could find any other useful things. After about ten minutes of searching she quit and decided to carry on down the road to find civilization.

A little way down from the wreckage she saw a sign that had been placed on the ground, graffiti covered it but she could just about read the message on it. "Gongmen City, 5 miles ahead" she said aloud, Tigress scratched her chin in thought, "Gongmen City? I've never been there before, I wonder why it sounds so familiar?"

XXXXXX

Po pushed the peacock onto the 'Bebop', Crane saw who they had brought aboard and frowned at Po, the panda shrugged at him, "What? She's worth a lot of cash" Crane continued to look at him knowingly, Po groaned and rubbed his face tiredly, "She's not going to be like Tigress I promise".

Ping pushed past Po and went to get the 'Bebop' moving, Po hoisted "Mom" up and bound her wings together with a nearby rope, Po looked up at her but she just glared at him coldly, the panda huffed and sat down opposite her.

An awkward silence fell over them all, Po was getting a sense of déjà vu as he remembered Tigress and decided to take the same approach with the peacock. "So what's with your 'family' back there?" he asked.

"Mom" sneered at him, "We are not a family; we are the protectors of China!" Po smirked and rolled his eyes, "Oh great, you're either a cult or you're environmental terrorists", "We are trying to save China from its own excess and filth" she declared, Po chuckled "Terrorists it is".

"Ok a serious question" Po leaned forward and looked her in the eye, "What does killing people, especially killing them as excessively as earlier have anything to do with trying to save China from itself?" Po was surprised as he got a small smile as a response, she beckoned with her wing to whisper it in his ear, the panda complied and out his ear next to her beak, "Because it makes me happy" she said softly.

Po recoiled and looked at her worriedly, Crane had been watching her the whole time and something was incredibly off about her, the avian figured that Po had just been told what that thing was and that was why he know looked troubled.

The panda moved about in his seat, "So what was the plan you were discussing earlier? Was it another one of your sick plans?" The peacock raised an eyebrow, "I didn't think anybody heard us" Po managed a small smile, "I'm not like anybody else". "Mom" fluttered her eyelashes at him, "No you're not are you, we could kill your partners and escape together; you do look like the kind of person who would enjoy that".

Po felt his skin crawl, he managed to save face and ignore it, "Usually I'd agree to it, but the people who ask are much more attractive" a look of fury flickered across her face, Crane watched the entire display with a look of confusion, he didn't understand mating traditions between people, the panda folded his arms, "So, I'll ask again. What are you and your little gang planning to do in Gongmen?"

"Wouldn't you like to know panda? All I'll say is that Gongmen has been the center of weapons manufacturing for years now and I'd like to put a stop to it". Ping saw something on the horizon, "Hey Po there's someone walking along the dirt path ahead of us, should we stop and see if they want transport into Gongmen?"

Po shook his head and replied, "No, let them get some exercise" Ping ignored him and went to pull over next to them, as he got closer he started to recognize the figure, "Oh no" he said under his breath.

XXXXXX

Tigress was still walking glumly along the road when she started to hear another transport behind her, she turned around and her face fell at the sight, "Oh no".

XXXXXX

Ping pulled over next to her and got out, "You again!?" he yelled exasperated, Tigress frowned, "That's no way to treat a lady!" Ping rolled his eyes, "Well I'll be sure to improve my behavior when I actually meet one" Tigress punched him in the face, "You little!"

Inside Po heard the scuffle and decided to go and investigate, he turned to Crane to tell him to stay here but saw that the bird had already taken his position, Po nodded and got out of the wagon. He rounded the corner of it and stopped in his tracks when he saw her, Tigress looked up and their eyes met, they stayed that way for a little before Po spoke.

"Hello there" he said simply, Tigress nodded, "Hi" she responded. Ping picked himself up and rubbed his beak painfully, "Po get her! We can get her bounty too" Ping went to capture her but Po stopped him by raising his hand, "No, I let her go Ping, she didn't escape" Ping's beak fell open with a creak and he looked from one to the other.

"WHY!?" he yelled, Po shrugged and looked at Tigress knowingly, "I don't know, I guess we just connected" when he said that Tigress blushed and avoided his gaze, Ping missed this and hopped back onto the 'Bebop'. "Let's go Po, I'll deal with you later but let's just get away from her as quickly as possible" he snarled.

"Wait!" Tigress yelled, she jumped in front of the 'Bebop', "Please don't leave me! I've been walking for an eternity, I don't how much more of this I can take! Please just drop me off in Gongmen and I'll never see you again". Ping shook his head furiously, "No! You stole my money and I want it back! Although I'll be just as happy if you leave and I never have to see you again".

Po thought for a second, "C'mon Ping, let's just give her a ride until Gongmen and she can pay us back when we're there" Tigress nodded although she had no intention of doing that for them. Ping grumbled, "All right! But she sits in the back with you Po and I don't want to hear her speak once, got it!"

Tigress bowed, "Thank you master, I forever promise you m-"Ping glared daggers at her which shut the tiger up instantly, Po climbed into the back of the 'Bebop' and held his hand out to Tigress who accepted it gratefully, they sat down next to each other and tried to avoid each other's gaze, they hadn't expected to run into each other so soon after Urumqi and they both still remembered her kiss.

"Mom" noticed this, "So, who is this Po?" The panda looked at her, "Why is that any of your business? You're our prisoner, so be quiet!" Tigress smirked, "I didn't know you often had so many women on here panda, so how many before and after me?"

Po groaned, "Shut up the both of you!" Crane woke up with a start and his eyes widened when he saw Tigress, Po jabbed his finger in the birds face, "Not a word bird" he ordered. Crane said nothing but a huge smirk made its way onto his face.

They spent the rest of the trip in silence.

XXXXXXX

Ping stopped the 'Bebop' when he saw Gongmen on the horizon, "That look amazing" he muttered to himself and it did, the light glowed in the sunlight and a huge regal looking tower rested in the center of it, it almost looked like it was trying to reach the heavens themselves.

They reached the building where they were to exchange "Mom" for cash, Po stood up and stretched in the back, he the peacock's wing and dragged her out of the 'Bebop', Tigress was left with Crane who didn't take his eyes off of her, "What?" she asked, Crane remembered the last time she had been here she had got the drop on him, he wouldn't let that happen again.

Po walked around to the front of the 'Bebop' to Ping, "I'll be just a second" he said to the goose, Po walked into the dull looking building and walked up to the counter. A fierce looking gorilla walked up behind it, "What do you want?" he asked rudely. Po pushed "Mom" in front of him, "I've come to collect the reward on this peacock; she's a gang leader and a murderer".

The gorilla nodded and opened a filing cabinet next to him, the gorilla put some tiny reading glasses which didn't suit him and picked up a random file. He went through it and stopped on a page, it was clearly a picture of "Mom" as the gorilla's eyes flitted between the file and the real thing.

He slapped the file shut and put it back, "Everything seems in order panda, bring her in" Po nodded and escorted "Mom" through the counter and into the back of the building, he threw her into a cell and mockingly waved at her, "See you lady, hope the foods nice" Po walked away and left the oddly calm peacock to herself, a small smile found its way onto her face.

"_It's all going accordingly to plan…albeit I didn't expect to get to Gongmen this way"_

XXXXXX

Po went back to the Gorilla and held out a paw, the gorilla looked at him with a frown "What?" Po gestured with his hand to indicate that he wanted something, "Money please. Now" he demanded, the gorilla sighed and reached under the counter, he picked a sack of money up and threw it at Po, it struck the panda in the chest and floored him.

Po picked himself up with a groan, "Don't spend it all at once panda!" The gorilla chuckled, Po scowled at him but left without a word. He got back into the 'Bebop' and put the sack of money down, he sighed and leaned back on the seat, he closed his eyes for a second before he heard something rummaging through the sack, he opened one eye and blanched when he saw Tigress trying to sneak some money from it.

The panda sat up sharply and slapped her hand away from it roughly, "Hey! Don't take our stuff!" He ordered. Tigress brought her hand away quickly and scowled at him, "Hey you kidnapped me again so I just trying get some compensation for it!" Po grit his teeth in frustration, "Kidnapped you? You specifically asked us to bring you here".

Tigress folded her arms, "Whatever panda", Ping shouted to her from the front, "Where do you want me to take you? It doesn't particularly bother me where we go after all you're paying me in a minute so I think it's fitting for you to tell us where your money is", Tigress thought for a second, _"Where can I lose these guys?"_ a thought suddenly came to her.

"Just drop me off here and I can come back with my money", Ping didn't believe her for a second, "Ok you do that, but you can take Po with you to make sure that you actually do it. We'll wait for you outside of Gongmen so hurry up!" Po sighed and got up to follow her, they both exited and Tigress led him down the street into the market.

They walked for about ten minutes, Po was starting to get more aggravated by the minute and he considered asking Tigress to hurry up until she veered down an alleyway sharply, she stopped in the middle of it and looked at Po.

Po looked around, "So where is this money?" Tigress walked up to him and traced her claw down his chest, Po just blinked at her un-amused by her attempts at seduction, "You did this before Tigress, I'm not letting you get away this time". Tigress smiled and pushed him up against a wall, a metal pole dug into Po's back painfully but the panda was too preoccupied to notice, for the second time in a week Tigress planted her lips onto his, this time however she waited for a second and let the panda get into it.

Po had almost forgotten about the money until *Click* Po pulled away from Tigress and sighed heavily, he tried to move but one of his paws was handcuffed to the metal pipe, Tigress smirked and slowly backed away, Po pulled with all of his strength but he couldn't get himself free, he looked back towards Tigress and held his free paw out, "Give me the key. Now!" he barked.

Tigress giggled and began to saunter away. Po watched her walk away with a scowl on her face, "Why do you even have handcuffs on you?" he shouted after her, his question was lost to the wind however and she left the panda in the alleyway.

Po tried to think of a way out to no avail, he thought about trying to send a signal to Ping so the goose would come and get him but he didn't have anything he could use….or did he? Po reached into his pocket desperately and smiled in relief as he felt the firework that Ping had given him in case of an emergency (**Session #2**). It was lucky that Po was too lazy to empty out his pockets every so often.

He put the bottom close to his face and pulled the tab at the bottom to set it off, Po braced himself for the burns and pulled. The sparks hit him on the nose and burned him, Po hissed and held out the firework, it was going to explode in his hand which he knew would be more painful.

The firework went off and Po gasped as his paw was burnt, he looked at the firework and he saw that he had been holding it upside down, the firework had just embedded itself in the ground. Po blinked in disbelief, "AHHHHHH" he yelled in anger and he turned to the wall, he began to hit his head on it.

A huge explosion suddenly happened in the distance, Po stopped the self-abuse and looked over at its source, the regal tower that they had seen on the way into Gongmen was collapsing down onto itself and the smoke could be seen for miles, Po realized he needed to get out of here before the wave of dust reached him because when it did it would become a huge smokescreen.

Po pulled hard on the handcuff again, it was harder for him this time due to his injured hand but still the chain would not break. Po made a choice.

XXXXXX

Tigress was quickly walking down the street trying to put as much distance between herself and the 'Bebop' as possible before she heard it. *BOOM!* the explosion rocked the entire street and made Tigress lose her balance, she quickly picked herself up and looked up at the huge tower which was no collapsing down onto itself.

She went to leave but she felt a twitch inside of her heart, Tigress knew that there could be someone who need her help…..besides she'd probably get a reward too, this seemed a better incentive for the tiger as she got on all fours and began the fast dash up to the tower to put a stop the whatever was going on.

XXXXXX

_About twenty minutes before the tower exploded_

"Mom" paced her cell patiently, Po had only just left and she already had a plan formed, the key to the plan was patience. She had a noise outside of her cell and smile formed at the edge of her mouth, two peacocks appeared covered in blood, "Mom!" one of them yelled happily.

"Mom" walked over to the cell door and gestured at them to open it, they produced a set of keys and unlocked the door, as soon as she walked out "Mom" was hugged by the two peacocks, she patted their heads affectionately.

"I told you I'd see you again soon, well done children" she said happily. She looked around, "Where are your brothers?" The two peacocks exchanged glances, "Everyone else is outside Mom" she nodded and walked slowly out to the lobby.

She wondered where all of the guards and other staff were but her question was answered as she saw a pile of bodies dumped in the lobby, the gorilla that the panda had exchanged with was on the top gutted.

The other peacocks were trashing the place, when they saw "Mom" they crowded around her and whooped with joy. "Mom" held her wings up for silence, a hushed excited silence fell over them. "Where is Harrison?" she asked, they all moved out of the way to reveal that he was standing at the back trying to not be noticed by her, "Mom" beckoned him with her wing and he approached nervously.

"Mom" patted him on the head, "I've thought about your punishment while I was away boy" she said calmly, Harrison closed his eyes and prayed to the gods for a good outcome, he felt something slip between his ribs and life started to rush out of him, his legs gave way and he collapsed in a heap onto the floor.

"I decided to stick to my original decision" said "Mom". She lifted her cloak over the blood spilled and walked out of the building, the peacocks looked at their fallen brother for a second before filing out after their 'mother'.

"Mom" began to walk up towards the tower that they had been scouting for the past couple of weeks. When they reached the top they saw that there was a huge wooden gate blocking the way into the tower, there was a huge wooden beam that went horizontally across it. The peacocks all furrowed their brows and questioned how they were to get past the large door, "Mom" however simply walked up to it and held out her right hand, a peacock realized what she was asking for so he ran over and placed the object in her hand.

"Mom" swiped her hand outwards and the fan cut up through the wooden beam easily as if it were made of water. The beam split in half and fell to the ground, "Mom" simply pushed on the door and it slowly swung open revealing a plain looking courtyard.

"_It must be so bare as to lessen the amount of hiding spaces that an intruder could possibly use against the council here" _she reasoned. The other peacocks all followed her in nervously, they didn't see any people on the way in which made them tense as they waited for some guards to randomly spring up out of nowhere and throw them all into the local prison, they had already been there and wanted to make sure that they never went there again as long as they lived…they were barely in there for ten minutes!

As if on cue a bunch of rhino guards exited the tower and formed ranks in front of it, a huge rhino pushed his way to the front of them and scowled at "Mom" when he saw her, "What do you want scum?" asked the rhino angrily, he obviously didn't appreciate being disturbed at this hour. "Mom" smirked, "Ahhh Commander Vachir is it? I just came up to here to ensure the survival of China by destroying the industries that are polluting and ruining its natural state" she said simply.

Vachir huffed and folded his arms, "I know you lady! You're that gangster that everyone calls 'Mom' aren't you?" the peacock rolled her eyes, she hated being known for such things, she would of preferred to be more well known for the positives things that she contributed to the world, such as her quest to rid the world of corruption and filth one life at a time. "Yes I am" she replied.

The rhino laughed, "And how are you going to get past all of us? There's hundreds of us and only about thirty or so of you!" the rhinos all chuckled with him, "Mom" smiled. "I'm so glad you asked that Commander" before he could respond she leaped up and sliced his throat with the fan, he gurgled for a second before collapsing to the ground.

The rhinos gasped and began to panic as their leader quickly died in front of them, as "Mom" had heard while they were plentiful and strong, the rhino guards were notorious for having weak morale and not a lot of conviction. A few stayed to fight them off but "Mom's" 'Family' saw to them. When there was no-one left the peacock made her way into the tower and up to the top, unsurprisingly it was now deserted, she had been hoping to take some people out with it but the tower's destruction would be seen as a good symbol none-the-less.

She looked out onto Gongmen while at the top, all of the people looked like insects from up here and "Mom" felt like a god, she addressed her 'Family' before leaving to get to safety, "Plant the explosives and then leave, you will want to get to a good spot for this my children".

They whooped with delight and began to set everything up, "Mom" watched the process with a wide, cruel glee. She loved the feeling of watching symbols be destroyed.

When they had finished they lit the fuses on the explosives and quickly flew out of the tower. There was a small pause before the tower exploded and showered Gongmen with debris, dust and splinters. "Mom" smirked and her 'Family' cheered at the building crumbling down onto its own layers.

They watched the tower's wreckage burn into ashes before deciding to leave the city and move onto their next target, they flew down to the step leading up to the tower and started to walk down them. "Mom" felt pretty smug when she was walking away from a destruction that she had caused, she looked down the stairs and gasped in fright as she saw a very angry looking panda glaring up at her, she stopped in her tracks and took in his ragged appearance.

His arm was in a hastily constructed sling and his shorts had a tear in them across the thigh part, he had obviously ripped part of them off in order to create the sling. "Mom" regained her composure and yelled down to him, "If you're here to catch me panda then you're too late, my plan is already a success and you've lost", Po snarled, "I don't care who you kill or what you destroy, I'm just annoyed that because of what I'm going to do to you now that there won't be any parts to give up for a bounty!"

The peacocks crowded around "Mom" protectively, "It's that jerk who took Mom from us earlier, this time we won't let you get away so easily!" One of them shouted down to Po, Po's eyes narrowed at him, "Who said anything about running away? I'm running straight at you!"

Po started to walk up towards them, his walk turned into a run which turned into a sprint, they almost couldn't believe that this wounded panda was recklessly running towards an entire army of them without a flicker of fear on his face.

He jumped at them and kicked one of them in the face, the peacocks all dived at him at once, Po rolled backwards and allowed them all to get into each other's way, their numbers were both a blessing a curse to them, sheer strength was the blessing but their potential for getting in each other's way had now been proven to be warranted.

Po tried to take them out as quickly as possible, his wound was making that difficult however as he had to turn his whole body if he wanted to punch someone and the peacocks seemed to be coming from all over the place at once, Po regretted just stumbling into a fight he hadn't prepared for or that he was in any condition to fight.

However a striped ally came to his rescue just before it all proved to be too much for the tiring panda. Tigress jump kicked a peacock in the face just barely saving Po, she frowned at his wounds, "How did you even escape?" she asked in shock. Po merely chuckled and pointed at his sling arm, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you sweetheart" he replied cheekily.

She looked at him oddly, Po ran at her and Tigress thought that he was attacking her as part of his revenge but his paw flew past her face and she heard a sickening crunch near her ear, she turned around and saw that he had punched a wolf in the face and broken his muzzle, she looked at Po again who almost seemed to stand over her in that moment, "Why did you save me?" Po smirked at her, "I still need to get my partner's money back for him".

Tigress smiled back, "It's always money with you isn't it?" they had almost forgotten the angry cult that was surrounding them, the tiger and panda fought together for the first time and they had to admit….they made a pretty great team, their fighting styles seemed to complement each other and though their prides' wouldn't admit it, if one of them hadn't shown up then the other one would almost certainly have died.

"Mom" didn't like the way that this was going, she stepped in to help but Po spotted her and focused his attacks on her, Tigress covered him by getting the rest of them off of the panda's back while he tried to end this. Both Tigress and Po had figured out that if they metaphorically cut the head off of the snake then the rest of the peacocks would just give up leave.

"Mom" seemed to understand this as well as she sliced Po in the face with her fan and quickly darted to what was left of the tower she had destroyed. Po grasped his face then pulled his hand away, it was covered in blood; she had given him the right kind of cut above the eye, the kind that bleeds.

"Go panda! I'll take care of these small fry! Just finish this!" Shouted Tigress, Po nodded, kicked the peacock he was fighting away and then give chase after his target.

XXXXXX

Po climbed up the wreckage chasing after "Mom", however because he only had the use of one arm it made it difficult to climb up after her, what was left of the tower had formed a small unstable platform, this was where Po was heading after the head of the 'Family' in order to finish this once and for all.

He gasped heavily when he reached the top, he looked down and then immediately regretted doing so as it was pretty high up. Po turned around and saw that "Mom" was looking out onto the Valley like she had been doing earlier, she looked down and saw Tigress finishing off her 'Family', "This is where it ends panda" she said softly, it was almost sadness that Po could hear.

"I don't just mean for me and my children but for you as well!" She jumped at Po and desperately tried to finish the tired panda, Po managed to avoid her attacks but he was starting to feel the day's exertion weighing on his tired muscles. Po grabbed her wing and twisted it until he heard a snap, "Mom" shrieked and held out her now useless appendage. Po had broken it beyond use, even with the proper healing it would never be the same.

Po didn't stop there however he started to brutally punch the peacock and finally put her madness to an end, he knocked her to ground and then leaned over her. Her face was bloodied and she could barely concentrate due to the ringing in her ears, Po knelt down in front of her and wrapped his large paws around her throat, he squeezed until the life seemed to fade out of her eyes, she didn't seem to protest in the slightest.

Po took his hands off of her when he was sure that she was finally dead, he took a sigh of relief but he felt a dizzy spell come over him, the panda wasn't sure if it was because of the blood loss from the recent battle or whether it was because of the vertigo he felt being up on this very tiny platform, all Po knew that he stumbled towards the edge of the platform to climb down but inside slipped and fell off of it, he blindly reached a paw up and caught a hold of the edge of the platform.

Po looked around to see if there was something he could use to hoist himself back up, he was spent and whatever energy was left was either going towards keeping him suspended there or from slipping into unconsciousness. He couldn't see Tigress anywhere so he assumed that she must of deserted him again when he actually needed her help.

Po could feel his paw start to lose its strength, this was the end for the panda and he knew it. Po began to make peace with himself and prepare for the oblivion, he felt a soft paw grab his. He opened his eyes and found himself looking into a pair of amber ones, "Having trouble?" Tigress said starkly, Po rolled his eyes, "A bit" he had easily slipped back into bounty hunter mode. She pulled him up to a point where he wouldn't fall immediately but where he still needed her help if he was going to climb up.

Tigress sat down on the ledge next to him, "I'll help you if you give me 80% percent on the reward". "You're insane!" Po yelled at her, Tigress shrugged and got up to leave, Po sighed, "Ok, I'll go no higher than 40%". Tigress turned around and smiled at him, "Deal, I'll get the 60%" Po frowned, "Fine".

Tigress reached down and helped the panda up, he groaned and leaned on Tigress for support. His injuries had taken their toll on the panda and his shoulder flared up whenever he moved. "Damn you panda!" screeched a voice, Po groaned and looked to his left, standing heavily wounded and carrying her fan was "Mom", Tigress moved back slightly with Po, "Don't you ever die?" asked the tiger. Honestly Tigress didn't know whether she could fight the peacock off while defending Po, or if she even wanted to.

"I won't let you leave her alive!" Mom screamed, she started to move towards the pair of them, Tigress continued to back up whilst desperately trying to think of a plan, Po was on the brink of unconsciousness so he was pretty much useless, Tigress gasped when she felt her foot move off of the edge, she hadn't realized how close they were to a huge fall.

Tigress looked around for a ledge to possibly jump to but no such luck, she looked at the ever advancing peacock and once again Tigress found herself praying to the gods to get her out of another life threatening mess.

"Goodbye panda!" Mom nearly reached them but stopped in her tracks, a huge cracking noise was heard by all three of them, "Mom" looked down and saw that the part of roof that she was on had become unstable, she looked up at the tiger and panda before she felt it give way completely underneath her.

The peacock didn't go out quietly and screeched loudly as she fell onto the ground below, the pain was unlike anything she had ever experienced, but it faded instantly. Her blood stained the tiles and could be seen even from up where the warriors stood, Tigress almost felt sorry for her….almost.

Tigress sighed with relief, she looked at Po who had fallen asleep, "Of course" Tigress groaned, "Let's get out of here"

XXXXXX

_Two hours later_

Po and Ping were sat down in the 'Bebop' staring down at the ground in disappointment, Po's arm was in a hastily crafted sling and he had various cuts and bruises on his body, due to their not being a body to show the authorities, they couldn't claim any reward which was the reason for their current mood.

"Yeah yeah, all that work and no reward, for a couple of 'tough guys' you sure seem to complain a lot" scoffed Tigress mockingly, she was leaning up against the entrance to the 'Bebop' grinning like an idiot at the two of them.

"Now don't take it so hard boys, we'll make some mad cash on the next one" Tigress yawned, "Think I'll go take a nap on the roof, tell me when we're leaving", Tigress left the two of them alone.

Po sighed, "Next time? We'll make money?" he looked over at the goose, "Ping, is she saying what I think she's saying? Because if she is th-"Ping cut him off, "I don't know and I have no opinion".

Po tried to fold his arms, he forgot about his wound and hissed sharply instead he settled for just sitting, "Man, she's taking a nap on our wagon!" He complained, he looked at Ping again, "Now that's not ok right?" Ping shook his head, "I don't know and I have no opinion" he repeated.

Po stood up, "Fine I'll go and tell her myself that she's not welcome here, he left the wagon and climbed up to the roof, Ping smirked to himself in anticipation, as if on cue he heard Po wail in pain and crash down onto the ground, Ping face palmed, "Bad move Po".

**See You Dragon Warrior**

**Teaser**

**Po sighed, "The music box is broken, or is it? It starts to play and a haunting tune fills the air, I awake suddenly from my dream, there is no music box and yet there it is! A tiny one, nestled in my hand, and I awake from my dream again as if I were peeling an onion, it's a dream no matter how far I go, I can never reach reality and trapped in an endless nightmare."**

"**Next session, The Ballad of Fallen Angels"**

**So Tigress has joined the crew of the 'Bebop', how will she fit in? And what further adventures await them? I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you find it in yourselves to review it.**

**See you!**


	5. Session 5: The Ballad of Fallen Angels

**The Dragon Warrior Blues**

**These chapters seem to be getting longer and longer with each one, I wonder if this will be any different, I write these notes before I finish the chapter so it could end up being much longer then the Gongmen Shuffle, which in itself is the second longest thing I've ever written next to 'Death'. This chapter or the one after it will probably surpass it though.**

**I know I said I was taking a break but this was almost finished so I wanted to get this out before going on that hiatus, don't expect the next chapter for a while.**

**Session #5 the Ballad of Fallen Angels**

The red panda ran his small knife across his finger drawing blood, he didn't even flinch from the pain showing that he had done this many time before, you had to if you were going to be a crime lord. He leaned forward in his chair and pressed his finger against the contract in front of him, he waited a few seconds before removing it and leaving his bloody fingerprint on it.

An antelope sitting across from him pulled the contract towards him and ran his eyes over it soaking in the information and confirming what he was looking for, he looked up at the red panda and smiled, "Confirmed". The red panda smiled back and withdrew a tissue from a box on the table, he dabbed at the small prick he had made on his finger, after he had cleaned the finger free of blood he placed the tissue on the table.

Both of them stood up and shook hands with each other, "To the new alliance" the mongoose said. "And perhaps even friendship" added the panda, "And to success for the both of us" the mongoose added.

The mongoose gestured towards one of his bodyguards and looked out at the amazing view from up on the balcony, the bodyguard grabbed a nearby coat and placed it over the mongoose's shoulders. "I had no idea that the view would be so breath-taking from up here, it kind of makes me sad to leave" he said.

The red panda nodded, "The next time you'll have to stay for dinner" he offered. "Our chefs can cook you up a cuisine that's just as superb as the scenery. It's to die for, so to speak of course" he added chuckling at his dark joke. The mongoose joining in, "Of course, thank you that's quite an invitation".

The mongoose picked his hat up off of the table and placed it on his head, he went to leave but stopped, "You know, I never thought that I would ever be breaking bread with a rival leader, especially one from the Red Dragon Clan".

The red panda kept the smile but there was a steely glint in his eye that was easy to spot, "Don't worry, the food won't be poisoned or something like that. No more betrayals, that won't be the way in which the Red Dragon operates anymore". The mongoose nodded and left with his bodyguards following close behind him.

The panda sighed and looked out on the Valley below, "Thank the gods, now I can finally relax and have a little breather". A pair of hands grabbed him from behind and a kick to the back of the legs brought him to his knees, the panda was turned around and he saw that all of his bodyguards in the room had been killed silently behind him, the floor was caked in blood and there were now unknown thugs standing around.

A large black bear walked into the room and looked around at the scene, as soon as the red panda saw him he understood, "This won't do you any good, the times have changed, the syndicates can't survive like this any linger with all of the pointless bloodshed" he struggled against the two Ox holding him, "It's tearing us all apart Vicious!" he yelled. Vicious just smirked evilly at him, "If Po was here you would never have done thi-".

A knife was drawn across the red panda's throat and he died instantly, the Ox let him fall to the floor.

XXXXXXX

_Two Days Later_

The 'Bebop' was parked by a lake, the sun was shining brightly in the sky and it was generally a beautiful day until….."I don't feel up for this" Ping sighed in resignation, Po who had been shuffling a pack of cards with an absent mind stopped and looked up "Huh?" he grunted.

"I said I don't feel like doing this" the goose reiterated. Po put down the cards and stood up, "Then I have no choice", Ping put his wing up, "Hold on a minute Po", Po glared at him angrily, "Yeah I don't want to bother you".

Ping frowned, "Don't get salty with Po! Just how much do you know about these guys?" He pointed at the latest issue of 'Big Shot' that they had gotten earlier, on the front was a picture of a smiling red panda, Po looked at it with soft eyes, "Enough to get the picture" he clarified.

Ping folded his arms, "Well then?" Po regained his stony expression and glared at the goose, "There's a fat bounty, we have plenty of information about the guy _and _we have a lead. So what are you scared of?" he added icily.

Ping sighed, "Po, you're avoiding the subject and you know it" he leaned forward, "What are you trying to hide from me?" Po looked at him for a second, then his gaze flitted up to the scar over Ping's eye **(Probably should have said earlier he has that…..sorry)**.

He looked back into Ping's eyes, "How did you get that scar above your eye Ping?", "What does that have to do with this?" Ping replied swiftly. Po closed his eyes, "Nothing at all", "So when are you going to answer my question?" Ping asked.

"When you answer mine" just when they both thought the confrontation would stop it started again as quickly as it had stopped. There was a tense silence as neither said a word, the atmosphere was broken by a cheerful humming quickly approaching, Tigress threw some bags into the 'Bebop' and hopped in, "Why is this door so small?" she asked no one in particular, Tigress was referring to the entrance which both her and Po had to crouch down to enter it.

She dropped her cheerful smirk when she saw the panda and the goose glaring at each other, "What's going on?" she asked with what seemed to be genuine concern, "That's none of your business!" Ping snapped at her without looking.

Tigress frowned, "Hey! We're supposed to be a team here you know", Ping rubbed his face with his wing in frustration, "Since when? You're just walking trouble so stay out of it!" he replied. Tigress shrugged, "Fine, like I care anyway" she leaned forward and picked 'Big Shot' off of the table, she saw the red panda at the front and held it out to the two of them, "So who's this guy? New hit?"

Ping snatched it off of her, "Ask before you look", Tigress pouted, "It was sitting right there lighten up". Po walked out of the 'Bebop', Ping got up and followed him, "Po! Wait a minute Po we weren't done" Po ignored him and started to walk off into the distance, Ping growled "If you leave then I'm not going to back you up!"

Po gave a nonchalant wave of the hand, "That's your call Ping", within a minute Po had left the 'Bebop'. Ping hit the entrance of the wagon with his wing, "Dammit" he muttered, he sat back down inside and folded his arms again, "Of all the bull-headed…" he complained. Beside him Tigress had picked up 'Big Shot' again, "Master Shifu of the Red Dragon Syndicate, a 28 million yen bounty for murdering a crime boss huh" Tigress read aloud.

Once again the paper was snatched out of her paws by Ping who glared at her, she fluttered her eyelashes at him and smirked, "Awww did you guys have a fight?" Tigress asked sarcastically. "Shut it Tigress, you're being obnoxious again." Tigress carried on, "What really?" Ping hit the table which made the cards fall onto the floor, "I said CAN IT!" he yelled.

He got up and went to get into the front of the 'Bebop' "He can do whatever the hell he wants!" he seethed, Tigress giggled and shrugged, "By the gods, men are such babies" she looked down and saw a particular card that stuck out to her.

She picked the card up and turned it over, it was the ace of spades which gave Tigress the idea to get the bounty herself, she looked across the table and saw Ping's notes about the bounty, she grabbed them and quickly scanned them. She found a lead and another idea formed, she looked at the bags she had just brought back and decided it was a good a time as any to try the stuff out.

XXXXXXX

_Two hours later_

Tigress walked up to the opera house and took in its majesty. She had ditched Ping and made her way to the location that Po and Ping had narrowed down in their notes. She had changed from her usual green robes into a flowing strapless red dress, she had bought it earlier and this seemed the perfect time and place to try it out, the location would also help the reaction she would be trying to get.

She opened the double doors and walked inside, she was surprised at how many people that there were, though she had come here on the night of an opera so she wasn't too surprised, almost immediately upon walking inside a monkey wearing a nice white tuxedo came over to her, "Excuse me madam" he started, the monkey then held out a paw "I need to see your ticket for this show please".

Tigress smiled pleasantly, "Ticket? Oh I don't have any ticket", un-amused the monkey pulled his hand back towards himself and frowned, "Well then I'm afraid let you in madam". Tigress shrugged and went to leave, "Okay then but _he _is going to be very unhappy with you", the monkey gasped. Tigress looked over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes, "That's right, _him_ in Balcony first box"

Tigress walked back over to him, "You know who right?" The monkey nodded slowly, "Master Shi-" Tigress placed a finger over his mouth cutting him off, "Just let me up and I won't tell him of your disobedience, is that okay?" The monkey sighed and moved out of the way, Tigress winked and blew a kiss at him as she made her way up to where Shifu was supposed to have sat.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile back at the 'Bebop' Ping was sitting and frowning to himself, he heard a creak from the 'Bebop's roof as Crane adjusted his position, the bird had been up there since this morning 'Working on his tan' as Po had jokingly put it. Ping grunted when he thought of the panda, "What makes them think they can do whatever the hell they like?" he grumbled referring to Tigress and Po.

He looked back over the notes for Shifu that he and Po had been going over earlier, he read through them again, not because he felt like going after him but because it gave him something to take his mind off of his departed teammates. "So I was right, there seems to be a lot more to this then just a normal bounty" he said aloud.

XXXXXXX

Back with Tigress the opera had started, it was a tragedy about two young star crossed lovers whose deaths were caused by the jealously of their former friend. Tigress wasn't here for that however so she stopped watching it and continued on her way to the seats that had been booked under the name of her target, she saw a large bear standing outside of the balcony's entrance so she used her best seductive walk up to him, he looked at her with an almost bored expression.

"Hello, is this Master Shifu's box?" she asked sweetly, "I've been looking all over for it, actually I-" "Yes we've been waiting for you" he replied swiftly, Tigress's blood ran cold, "Y-you have?" she had a bad feeling about this but she decided to run with it, the thought of the money kept her going. Before she could do anything she felt a sharp object press into the small of her back, she drew in a sharp breath from shock, "We request that you remain quiet during the performance" came a cold voice from behind her.

Tigress thought of several plans straight off the bat, unfortunately there wasn't an outcome where she would escape with her life, she relaxed herself and walked into the box.

XXXXXX

Two young gooses looked up at the tasty looking apples that were on display, they looked over towards the old female bear that owned the stand, she was currently counting the money she had earned that day, the two kids looked at each other, gulped and nodded. They grabbed an apple each other and began to quickly walk off, "PUT THEM BACK!" roared the bear, the goose's nearly jumped out of their skin, they didn't look back to see where she was they just ran away.

In a surprising move she quickly grabbed one of them and wouldn't let go, she moved her face close to his and yelled, "What makes you think you can steal from an old lady!" the other goose ignored his friend's situation and continued to run, he ran around a corner straight into what felt like a brick wall, it had fur however and when the goose picked himself up he saw that he run right into a confused looking panda bear.

"Get out of my way!" the goose ordered, the panda scratched his head and picked the apple off of the floor. The goose frowned when he realized it was the apple he had just stole, he leaped at the panda's apple hand, "Give it back you dumb ass!" the panda quickly moved out of the way and tripped the goose in mid-air.

The old bear walked over and grabbed the other goose, she now had one suspended in the air with one hand, "Kids these day, I should hand you over to the police!" The bear looked up to thank the stranger but felt her blood run cold when she saw who it was, her grip on the gooses relaxed and they ran away, the panda ate the apple and smirked "Hey".

The bear put her paws over her eyes, "Oh by the gods!" she removed her paws and almost fainted when she saw him still standing there.

"Po!?"

XXXXXXX

The old bear's shot glass of strong alcohol slammed onto the table, they had gone back to her house in silence since Po had revealed himself to her after certain...events. Po looked up at her in amusement, "Isn't it bad for your health to drink the whole thing in one gulp Annie?" he asked cheekily. Annie scowled at him, "What's bad for my health is seeing you come back to life, it's a shock to the system".

Po chuckled, "That's a pretty warm welcome coming from you". Annie grunted and poured herself another shot "Why welcome the dead? It's all futile", Po just watched the liquor pour into the glass with disinterest, he had never liked the taste of alcohol, also he wasn't a fan of the lack of control it gave him over his own body.

"But I'm alive" Po said as if it wasn't the most obvious thing in the world, "Not you're not! You died three years ago, that's how things work here!" Annie replied angrily. Po looked away guiltily and saw a small painting sitting near them, in it was Annie, Shifu and another person that Po didn't recognize. "I know why you're here Po" she said wearily, Po looked into her sad eyes, "You wouldn't of come here unless you needed some information, am I right?" Po nodded, "Well I'll help if I can but don't ask too much of me, I am a feeble old woman after all" Po smiled softly.

"Anastasia" Po said softly, once again Annie slammed the glass down, "No! Don't you call me that! There are only two people who can use that name!" Po didn't flinch, Annie sighed, "So, what do you wanna know?"

Po picked the picture up, "Shifu. What happened to him?" Annie's face seemed to lose it's color and go white as a sheet, the glass in her paw began to shake from the force that she put around it.

XXXXXXXX

Tigress walked into the box and saw Shifu sitting in a chair, his face from the direction it was facing seemed to be completely absorbed in the opera which would be reaching it's interval soon, Tigress tried not to stop her legs from shaking, she didn't want to show her fear in front of these lowlifes. "Shifu, what's the reason for this?" she said trying to project confidence. "There is no need to speak Miss Tigress" said the gorilla from outside who had followed her inside.

She gasped and turned on him, he remained stony faced, "We've done a very thorough background check on you. Rest assured, you'll be held in a very...safe location". Tigress got the feeling that he wasn't being entirely truthful with that last statement, he gestured with his hand to the only other seat in the box, "Now please Miss, take your seat" he ordered softly.

She sat down slowly and tried to get her heart rate down, if she was to get out of this she would need to be calm and collected. She looked over towards Shifu and her heart stopped, he was very pale there wasn't a breath coming from him, if there hadn't of been a huge slash across his throat then he would of looked quite peaceful, Tigress felt vomit rising up her throat.

"You're trembling, aren't you?" came a cold voice from the shadows, Tigress gasped and looked around, a large black bear with cold, dead eyes was standing slightly to her left, with everything else that had happened she just must of not noticed him...or he might of just appeared there like a specter. "Who are you?" Tigress hissed, her question was greeted with silence and a cold stare, "Tell me!" she insisted.

The opera was reaching it's peak down below and the applause had started, it was loud but a murmur from the bear seemed to cut straight through that and reach into Tigress's ears, "Vicious" he replied slowly. Time seemed to slow down for Tigress as his name rang throughout her brain, she had heard of this Vicious many times when she had been travelling throughout China, they had merely been whispers of a dangerous and brutal warrior, his crimes were unspeakable but the name associated with it had been 'Vicious'.

XXXXXXX

Annie placed some throwing knives onto the table and pushed them over to Po, the panda inspected them before putting them into his pockets, the bear looked sadly at the headstrong panda. "Y'know I don't tell you what to do with your life, just, promise me that you won't get tangled up with Vicious again Po." Po looked at her silently before she sighed, "Why am I even telling you this? It's useless", Po mumbled "Sorry".

"You've never listened to anyone in your whole life" she said sadly, she then downed another shot which seemed to reignite her fire, "And why should you? You're a massive show off! You'd think it would kill you to listen to your elders for once!? Nooo that's too much to ask for the 'Indestructible Po'" Po smirked and closed his eyes, he had to admit that he had missed Annie's ranting, it brought back many memories.

"About Shifu" she added, Po's eyes snapped open and he saw that she had gotten serious again. "He had a lot of guys out looking for you, he was convinced right up until he died that you were still alive, he said something about being about to feel your spirit on the wind or something like that. No one could talk him out of it. So now, here you are back again and Shifu is-" a sob left her throat.

Po looked at the bottle she had been drinking which was nearly empty, "Annie, I think that you've had enough, don't you?". She ignored him and poured the rest of it into the glass, "Not yet" she held the glass up, "This one is for Shifu" she then downed that once as well. Po stood up and slowly left the house, he looked back at Annie and said a silent goodbye as she laid her head onto the table and fell asleep, the alcohol had gotten to her after a while.

He quickly left town and went back to the 'Bebop' there were still some things he needed to get before he could find Vicious and finish their fight. He spotted the wagon where he had left it earlier and a small smile formed on his face as he knew Ping wouldn't just desert him like he said he would. As he got closer he didn't spot either Crane or Ping, he climbed in and started to gather some other small and easily concealable weapons.

He picked a knife up and looked at it, he then heard a creak from behind him, Po turned round to see what it was and saw Ping frowning at him. "Alright, now what are you planning to do with all of that?" he asked referring to the armory that Po had gathered. Po ignored his question, "Where's Tigress?", "When she saw the bounty figure she had a lapse of sanity, I'm sure she's out there somewhere screwing up and getting into trouble."

Po stood up, "I see". Ping moved over to him and pointed in his face, "Let me tell you something Po! You aren't going to get any reward money for Shifu, he's already dead, he was assassinated due to the internal politics between rival crime syndicates, that lead we got was obviously a trap!" Po frowned, "How did you find out all that information?"

"You think I was just sitting here waiting for you to come back?" asked Ping, Po pushed his pointing finger out of his face, "I know, I know the whole sad story." Ping looked in puzzlement at him, "And you're still going?" Realization fell over Ping, "Wait, does this have anything to do with Shifu?" Po nodded, "Yeah I have a debt to pay off" he said simply.

Ping's expression softened, "You wanted to know what happened to my eye" Po raised an eyebrow, he hadn't expected Ping to ever tell him that story. Ping ran his wing across it, "This is the price I paid for being too gung ho and running ahead of the game, do you get the point I'm making?" Po sighed, "I don't _want _to do this Ping".

The goose threw his wings into the air, "Then why are you going!?" Po smirked, "I guess you could say that my past if finally catching up to me". Ping sighed too, "I guess if you're going after whoever did this then you might as well bring Tigress here back with you, like I said I have a feeling that she's in trouble somehow".

Po nodded, "I will, but I'm not doing this for her", he grabbed his straw hat before leaving.

XXXXXXX

Po walked up the street trying to not draw any attention to himself, he was wearing his straw hat which was pulled down over his face and a long flowing travelling cloak complimented it, it wasn't just for fashion however, concealed under it was a number of throwing knives and all sorts of daggers, he knew from experience that when fighting Vicious you should never expect anything less then a fatal encounter.

The cloak was also there for personal reasons, he had 'died' once before in this cloak and he wanted to make sure that if it happened again today that he was prepared to go out in this life as he had entered it. Po stopped walking and looked up at his destination, it was a huge church that had seen better days, the decorative pillars outside of it had mostly crumbled away and there was moss growing all over the door.

As Po got closer he could see that the wood on the door was withered and old, Po reached up and push softly on it, further showing it's age was the fact that Po only gently pushed the door and it had opened. The cautious panda walked inside and looked around, the place was dark, the only light coming in was the colored kind which had come through the stained glass windows, Po looked at these for a second, he saw that the images on them showed a mother weeping whilst holding her child.

Po shook his head and carried on, he couldn't afford to get distracted by the architecture when he knew the monster he would be facing soon, he walked further into the church and came across a number of pews which were all facing a huge alter, this had also seen better days.

A voice came from the dark and reverberated around the holy place, "When angles are forced out of heaven then they become devils" echoed Vicious's voice, Po whipped around and saw the large black bear walk out of the shadows, Po wasn't sure if had been there the entire time or if had just appeared there like a specter.

Vicious smiled darkly, "You agree, don't you Po?" The panda smirked cockily, he felt more comfortable know that he could see his enemy out in the open, "I'm watching a dream that I can't wake up from" he replied. Vicious made a subtle movement towards the katana that was almost glued to his hip, Po shifted slightly as he could feel that an attack was due, "I'll wake you up right now then Po".

"What's your rush Vicious, after all, it's been a long time", Vicious chuckled, "Are you pleading for your life?". Po frowned, "Hardly, begging doesn't work on you remember? Even coming from the one who took you in and made you what you are", Vicious titled his head, "Perhaps, but he was a beast who lost his fangs, that's why he had to die Po. And that's why you also have to die".

Po heard a whimper come from his left, he pull a knife out and aimed in that direction, he stopped however when he saw that it had come from Tigress who was being held by a large, muscular gorilla. The ape smirked, "Now then panda, we'd like you to drop the knife slowly", Po looked back at Vicious who hadn't moved at all, the bear looked at the scene with a mild disinterest as if he already knew the outcome...hell he probably already did.

Po looked back and saw that a blade was now being pressed against Tigress's heart, "What's wrong?" mocked the gorilla, "If you don't comply then she'l-" Po threw the knife as hard as he could, it flew into the gorilla's eye and he died instantly, Tigress gasped as blood flew onto her, Po remained steely eyed throughout the entire display.

He grunted however when something sliced his arm, he looked up and saw that another gorilla had thrown a small balded start at him which had skimmed Po's arm and drawn blood, Po saw that there were more up there as well as him so he quickly got into cover behind a nearby pillar. He heard the *chink* of the knives hitting the pillar and readied himself, it wouldn't be long before Vicious got bored and involved himself, Po needed to take them out before fighting Vicious, fighting him would be a challenge in itself and the last thing he needed was these mooks getting in the way and making him make a possibly fatal error.

Po peeked around the pillar and threw a knife, it took out one of the gorillas and made them fall over the balcony crashing onto the ground, Po quickly took the opportunity during the conclusion to run over to Tigress and get behind a different cover. He slid next to her, Tigress gasped in surprise at Po's appearance, "Go away" she hissed, "You're just going to draw their attention to me and I don't want to die here!" Po rolled his eyes but didn't retort.

Po took this chance to look to see where Vicious had gone but to his panic he couldn't see him anywhere, he looked to Tigress to tell her something but she had disappeared, Po heard movement at the entrance and saw her running towards it, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" he yelled, she turned around and smirked, "I just realized I can leave anytime!", Po sighed and let her leave, she would just get in the way anyway.

The panda took a deep breath and then sprinted around the corner towards the balcony, he jumped off of the wall and grabbed it's edge, before the gorilla could respond Po grabbed his throat and threw him off of the balcony, the gorilla screamed like a child before becoming a stain on the floor. Po climbed onto the balcony, when he put his feet down he gasped and felt a wave of pain shoot up his side, he looked down and saw that a star had hit him in the side, _"It must of happened earlier and the rush made me not feel it" _the panda speculated.

XXXXXX

Tigress got outside and looked back at the church, she didn't feel bad about leaving, this wasn't her fight and it had nothing to do with her, besides she didn't really care about Po, the money was the only important thing to her and this particular mission looked like a lost cause.

She turned on her heel away from the war before a pang came from her chest, the thought of leaving Po to die wasn't as easy as she had thought it was going to be, she weighed up the pros and cons in her mind before coming to a decision.

"Damn you panda!" she cursed aloud, she then sprinted away to find some backup for Po, there was only one goose for the job.

XXXXXX

Po breathed deeply and tried to reduce his heart rate, there was nobody left now, only him and Vicious remained standing and he hadn't seen the bear since before the firefight had started. Po stumbled about on each looking for him, Po speculated that Vicious was toying for him and waiting for Po's wound to leak enough blood before striking, the panda walked next to a large stained glass window before he heard a movement behind him. Po instantly ducked and felt a shiver of air go over his head, Vicious had swung his katana at Po's head!

Before Po could stand up to face him Vicious swung vertically to split the panda's head open, Po pushed off of the ground and felt himself slam into the railing of the balcony, a wave of pain went up Po's back and he knew that he was close to passing out from either the pain he had endured that night or from the blood loss from said wounds.

Vicious thrusted with the blade and Po moved to the left, he wasn't fast enough to dodge the next slice and felt a gash open up ion his face, Po gasped and he could already feel warm blood trickle down his face. Po fell on his back and quickly got a knife out of his cloak, Vicious pressed his sword up against Po's heart and Po pressed his against Vicious's heart.

It was a standoff and neither of them dared make a move, Po looked into Vicious's cold dead eyes and saw a twinkle of fear, he imagined that Vicious saw the same thing in his own eyes. "You should see yourself, do you have any idea what you look like right at this moment Po?" asked Vicious casually.

Po smirked despite himself, "What?". "Like a ravenous beast, the same blood runs through both of us, the blood of a beast who wanders, hunting for the blood of others", Po chuckled, "I've bled all that kind of blood away".

Vicious's eyes narrowed dangerously, "THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!" He lost his cool for the first time in a long time and they both pushed their blades into the other. Po yelled in agony while Vicious screeched like a raven, they both dropped their weapons, Po's paw immediately flew to his gushing wound while Vicious quickly Po up by the throat and pushed him against the stained glass window, it was now also stained with Po's blood.

Vicious smiled with pleasure at seeing Po suffer, he then threw Po against the window, the window broke and Po flew out. Time seemed to go in slow motion as Po started to reach the street below and a montage of his former life flashes before his eyes.

_The images speak without context but show Po fighting alongside Vicious; Vicious in bed with a female panda, and Po walking underneath her window with a bouquet of red roses. _

_He had forgotten how long he been standing in the rain now, in the distance a bell tolled loudly its ring reverberated throughout the cold dark streets of the rundown town that he had found himself in. He was leaning against a wall waiting for something, a signal to tell him when he should execute his plan._

_He was a panda, the last of his kind he had been told. He didn't let that thought dictate his life however and he lived his life how he wanted to._

_He held a bouquet of roses in his hand, the material that was supposed to be protecting the flowers from weather such as this was useless and soaked. He moved off of the wall and stood up straight, when he wasn't slouching he made for an imposing figure._

_His footsteps echoed down the alleyway as he walked slowly towards his destination. A nearby puddle caught his attention for a second, he pulled a single rose out from the bouquet and let it fall into the puddle, the red from the rose created a juxtaposition against the dull skies and dark streets._

_He saw the building he was looking for, he looked up and both the full majesty of the house and the weight of the task in front of him almost overwhelmed him and sent him running for the hills. He gulped and remembered who was waiting for him, his courage returned soon after that._

_The figure slowly walked up to the door and pushed it open, there was a stillness in the air just before the ambush happened. It was as he expected, upon entering the building he was attacked by several members of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate. He dropped the bouquet of flowers and threw a throwing knife that he had been holding onto for the past few hours, it streaked across the room and embedded itself into the forehead of one of them._

_The panda dived across the room and engaged in combat, he smashed the flat of his palm into an antelope's nose. He felt the bones crack and turn to dust from the blow. A fist found its way into the back of the panda's head, he stumbled and walked into a vicious kick from another assassin._

_He tried to gasp but the air had left his lungs, he didn't give up however and finished the antelope off with a swift but brutal punch to the throat, the antelope fell desperately trying to breathe through his destroyed larynx, he fell to the ground and didn't get back up again after that._

_The panda got into a martial arts pose and proceeded to dispatch the remainder of the scum that had been lying in wait for him. In a few seconds he managed to take out another two of them. The panda went to kill the remaining one, he turned and found him leaned against the far wall looking fearfully at him, he moved closer to seal the deal until the remaining gangster moved his hand, there was a flash of silver for a second and then the panda felt a sharp object pierce his stomach._

_He grunted in pain and fell to his knees, the gangster laughed victoriously and causally walked over to finally end the fight, the panda felt some blood leak out of his mouth and saw it drip onto the floor. He glanced up at the gangster and grinned cockily._

_And finally there was the female panda again singing him a lullaby while his injuries healed, Po eyes opened and he saw the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes upon, "Just like that, sing for me please" he pleaded, the panda smiled softly at him and continued to hum that infectious melody. _

XXXXXXX

Po opened his eyes slowly and heard a familiar melody being hummed, he saw Tigress looking at him while he slept, she had been humming the same melody that was in his dream! She was back in her usual green outfit and she was smiling softly at him. Po looked down and saw that he was completely covered in bandages, even his mouth was completely wrapped, he groaned at his injuries and tried to get up.

Tigress softly placed a paw on him and pushed him back down, "So you're finally up huh, you sleep too much Po, you've been asleep for nearly three days", Po just looked at her blankly.

"I...was worried that you wouldn't wake up, you took one heck of a beating from that guy didn't you" she said rhetorically, Po looked around and saw that he was back in the 'Bebop' although Ping wasn't currently there. Po lifted his finger slowly and beckoned Tigress to come closer, her eyebrows raised in surprise but she nodded and put her ear to his mouth so he could speak through his bandages.

"You...you sing...off key" Po said dryly, Tigress grit her teeth at his obnoxiousness and responded in kind.

Ping walked back towards the 'Bebop' with some more medical supplies, whenever Po got in a fight he ended up cleaning them out, as he got closer he heard a punching sound and a muffled "AHHHHHHHHHH!" Fearing a reprisal on Po he ran the rest of the way and looked inside of the wagon, Po was hunched over and clutching his head and Tigress was sitting across from him with her arms folded and glaring intently at the poor panda, when she saw Ping she looked at him and said dryly "He fell".

Ping smirked, "Oh well", Crane peeked his head inside the wagon and upon seeing the display went back to the roof and laid down to catch more sun, _"I wondered what happened with them? Oh well, it probably wasn't that important"_ thought the completely oblivious bird, he then pulled down his new straw hat over his face and went to sleep yet again.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was the first big plot one and the first time we are seeing the overarching story. As you may have guessed the first couple of chapters were to introduce the characters and the world while also providing entertaining standalone adventures, but there will be a more focused narrative from now on. This also seems to be a natural place to go on a hiatus. Next time will be another standalone tale though before we head back into the more story driven stuff.**

**Teaser**

"**You know what? This has become a world with no integrity" Po grumbled.**

"**What are you talking about Po?" Ping asked in disbelief. **

"**Everybody is putting a lid on something that smells" **

**Ping shrugged, "Yeah, and?"**

**Po leaned forward, "And we let it happen!"**

"**Could you tell me what you're talking about Po?"**

"**The world Ping! The world is being covered up and soon everything is gonna be covered in lids!"**

**Ping sighed, "You lost me bud, and I also think you're taking this analogy too far"**

**Po leaned back in his chair, "They keep us from seeing the truth". **

**Ping smirked, "Truth huh?"**

**Po nodded, "Yeah, it all those lids, I'm gonna crush them all away!"**

"**Next Session Sympathy for the Devil" Po concluded**

**Ping laughed, "It sounds smelly"**


	6. Session 6: Sympathy for the Devil

**The Dragon Warrior Blues**

**Goddammit…..I know I said I was done for now but I finished 'Fate Can Be So Cruel'…it made me want to write, DAMN YOU PANDAFAN!**

**Seriously though it's nice to do this again even if this is just something that took me a long time to do. This particular story is quite complicated so if you have trouble following along then don't be afraid to ask in the review section about what you didn't understand, also I will admit there are more sci-fi elements to this session, but there just wasn't any getting around that when trying to adapt this particular story. And remember to review if you enjoyed this.**

**As a quick side note 'Heavy Metal Queen' will not be adapted into this story as it it literally impossible to do in the Ancient China context as it's about truckers in space. I've made my mind up about it so I really don't want to hear anyone moan about the fact that it won't be represented here. For those interested it was supposed to be the story directly after this but no it will be replaced but...well you can see in the teaser at the end of this chapter. **

**Enjoy!**

**Session #6 Sympathy for the Devil**

_Everything was hazy, the bright lights above him burned into his retinas, for as long as he lived he would never forget how it hurt his eyes, he squinted his eyes to try and blot out the sun-like lamps and he made out the forms of people standing over him._

_A flicker of fear rode up his spine before he could see more of them, they appeared to be doctors and they were wearing gowns and had masks covering their mouths. The coldness of the room reached him in that moment which made him come to the horrible realization that he was naked. _

_If he was a more fickle person then this would have bothered him but his disorientation coupled with his fear of the unknown won out, he gasped when a gloved hand touched his face, a mask moved closer to his eyes and looked into them examining them._

_His breathing quickened as the person refused to let go of him, he tried to pull away to no avail, after an uncomfortable amount of tension the 'doctor' moved away and nodded wordlessly to his comrades, he wanted desperately to ask them who they were, what he was doing here or what that 'doctor' had been prodding around for but he just couldn't seem to make his vocal cords work._

_The 'doctors' turned away for a second before grabbing something off of a nearby table, he tried to crane his neck around to see but he found he couldn't move his head either, he tried to think of a way out but his hopes were dashed when he saw what that guy had picked up off of the table, it was a huge scalpel and they came closer to his face._

_If he could have talked he would have screamed as he felt the blade go near his eyes….._

"AHHH" Po gasped, he sat up sharply and started to hyperventilate, he felt sweat on his hands and on his brow. Po looked around and remembered where he was, the room was thick with smoke from the opium that was being passed around the bar. Dim light barely coming from some overhead lanterns could barely get through the cloud, Po put his head in his hands and tried to forget what he had just remembered.

A sharp, hollow sound pierced the air and made Po look up, his eyes drifted towards the small stage that was in the corner and he saw a young bear standing in the center of it blowing strongly into a harmonica, the tune he played was bluesy, not unlike the tune that Po often whistled to himself **(Session #1)**. Po blinked a few times groggily then he grabbed the alcohol that was sitting on the table in front of him and downed it quickly, he raised himself slowly out of the chair and left.

XXXXXXX

_Back on the 'Bebop'...About 7 hours earlier_

Tigress opened the box that they kept their food in and sighed to herself at the sight of a lonely apple, she picked it up and closed the box. Tigress turned around to find a place to sit and eat but she bumped straight into Crane who was looking at the fruit ravenously, she gasped and frowned at him, "Don't do that Crane it's creepy!"

She saw him looking at the fruit, "No! It's not for you bird it's for me!" Crane just continued to look at it, he then raised wing and beckoned with it to show he wanted her to hand over the apple, Tigress decided to get some payback on him. She smirked evilly, "Oh you want the apple?" Crane nodded quickly, Tigress ate it quickly in front of him.

Crane's face dropped like a rock and Tigress swallowed the apple quickly, she laughed at the sight of his irritated face, "If you don't work then you don't eat, you're a hunting bird Crane go and hunt something!" Tigress walked towards the entrance of the 'Bebop' and leaned down to exit it, "We girls are different, we have to be pampered because we're delicate and refined".

She hopped out of the wagon and walked around to the camp they had set up earlier, Po and Ping had left after that to go into the nearby town to find a bounty. She picked up a piece of paper with a picture on it and read through it, the document was an order for a bounty and it had come with a picture so a potential hunter could find the target more quickly.

Tigress laid down on the grass and felt sleep calling out to her, "Whatever, I'm sure that the guys will get that bounty for me".

XXXXXX

Po and Ping stood side by side looking into a crowd of people, "Damn that blues sounded sweet eh Po?" Ping quipped, Po smirked at him, "I thought you hated blues?", Ping frowned, "Just because I don't like you whistling it 24/7 doesn't mean I don't like it!" Po shrugged, "A hipster goose? Very cool".

Po spotted their target, "Look Ping, there he is!" Ping squinted, "Are you sure Po? I can't quite see him from here". Po raised an eyebrow, "What seriously? You can't see him from here? Are you blind? Whatever, it's definitely 'Giraffe' that's for sure", 'Giraffe' was appropriately named as he was a moderately tall...giraffe. Ping nodded, "Alright, I'm going straight in, you take the left and I'll take the right", Po frowned, "Lard boy is in the way".

Ping looked at him oddly, "What?" Po pointed in 'Giraffe's' direction and saw that a large elephant was also eyeing 'Giraffe' up threateningly, Ping definitely saw who that was and he released a irritable huff, "Ahhh, that's 'Fanny'", the elephant was a rival bounty hunter. Po snickered, "What? That's really his name?" Ping nodded, "He's no joke either", Po folded his arms, "Well go on then Ping, the ball's in your court".

Ping grumbled, he put his wing near his mouth and yelled out "YO! HEY 'FANNY'! 'FANNY' RIVER LONG TIME NO SEE" The elephant expression went from puzzled to annoyed then to happy to keep up the illusion that they knew each other, they were doing this so 'Fanny' was aware of their presence was also trying to keep 'Giraffe' unaware of them.

'Fanny' yelled back, "WELL IF IT ISN'T 'OLD MAN PING' HOW YOU DOING BUDDY!?" Ping walked over to him and shook his hand, everyone in the club looked at the bizarre exchange whilst Po kept his eye on 'Giraffe'. "Well well, when in the hell did you blow in?" asked 'Fanny' Ping laughed, "I'm good, how about you you're looking pretty chipper, what happened did you eat a nice big one while on the way in here?" They kept up the fake exchange for a while.

Po saw that 'Giraffe's' ears had perked up, _"He must have heard something, his reaction was pretty quick though, he must be waiting for someone to show_ up" reasoned Po. 'Giraffe' looked up and Po followed his line of sight towards an exit where a man who was pushing a wheelchair quickly exited.

'Giraffe' quickly left the bar, Po waited a few seconds before following him outside, behind him he could hear the slowly fading conversation between Ping and 'Fanny', "I didn't know you liked the blues Ping".

XXXXXX

Po stuck his head out of the door slowly and checked both ways to see whether 'Giraffe' was there, when Po had confirmed the lack of 'Giraffe' he stepped outside into the chilly night air, Po couldn't hear any footsteps so he faced left and started a quick walk down the alleyway. The panda tried to keep his movements quick and quiet, if 'Giraffe' wasn't in this direction then he needed to come back and check the other way before he lost him.

Po turned a corner quickly and jumped out of skin when he saw 'Giraffe' standing at the mouth of the alleyway looking around the corner, Po calmed down and saw that 'Giraffe' hadn't heard him, the panda moved back around his corner and waited for 'Giraffe' to move on, after he got his heart rate down he realized that he had bitten his tongue...rather hard too.

They waited in their positions for about thirty seconds before 'Giraffe' moved away from the corner and went around it, Po cautiously followed him learning his lesson from before, he leaned up where 'Giraffe' had previously been and watched as his target walked quickly down the street.

Po saw 'Giraffe' walk towards a huge hotel that stood out on the bland street, it was huge; at least ten floors and it was colored a sandy yellow, which when compared to the dull grays and whites of the other properties made it stand out immensely, 'Giraffe' walked up to the entrance and went inside.

Po waited a couple of seconds again then darted around the corner and broke into a swift jog down the street. He opened the entrance and went inside.

XXXXXX

The inside looked exactly as one would expect a moderately decent hotel reception to, yellow again coated the walls of it and there were paintings of valleys and mountains hung on the walls, Po looked at the desk of the reception and saw what the panda might describe as an attractive looking leopard. She had obviously been told by her bosses to overdress to entice male customers in, Po felt quite sorry for her having to play up that side of herself, however that wouldn't stop him using all of his will, his intelligence and his cunning in order to get past her.

He decided to go with the simple approach...flirting with her. Po rolled his eyes at the thought but there didn't seem to be any other way, he didn't want to punch her for two reasons, one; he didn't like hitting women and 2; she would probably call security on him which would result in those guys getting injured too. Po walked up to the desk as confidently as he could, she looked up from whatever paperwork she had been doing and looked at the panda oddly, Po flashed her a flirty smile and he leaned on the desk when he reached it.

"Hey good looking, how's it going?" He asked directly, the leopard blushed and tapped the desk nervously, she obviously wasn't used to guys hitting on her so quickly. "F-fine I guess" she stammered. Po nodded, "That fellow that just came in, y'know? The large scowling giraffe", she nodded, "Yes sir, why?"

"I need to know what room he went to darling, it's important...police business yes! I believe that he has sinister intent and I need to talk to him" Po internally face-palmed, _"Well here's another great moment in the legend of Po. Famous bounty hunter and womanizer of women that he only found moderately attractive!" _To his surprise the leopard smiled softly and wrote something down on a piece of paper.

She finished and then pushed it towards Po, the panda picked it up and looked at it, on it was an address; 44 Tao Pi House, Po looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. She rubbed her arm nervously and blushed, "It's where I live, when you're done with Mr 'Giraffe' then we could maybe...get something to eat?" Po could have laughed in disbelief, why did this have to happen to him?

Po gave a fake smile to her, "I'd like that, now where did he go? I'll come and get you after I've dealt with him", the happy leopard looked down at the paper she had been writing on and ran her finger down it, "Let's see...he went to room 13, that's on the third floor" Po bowed and walk towards the stairs that went up.

He turned around quickly and looked back at the leopard who was smiling at him, Po nodded at her in thanks that went up the stairs, guilt started to creep into him because of the easiness with which he had just given that girl false hope, he looked down at the address that she had just given him and sighed. Po screwed it up and put it in his mouth, if he ate it then he might feel better.

He immediately swallowed it and gasped as it got stuck in his throat, he immediately reached into his mouth and pulled it out of his throat, Po threw the paper onto the floor and cursed at the strong confirmation of the existence of karma that had just struck him, _"No one must ever know about this!"_ Po's subconscious agreed. Po shook his head and remembered his mission, he ran up the rest of the stairs, when he reached the third floor he quickly opened the door and went to room number 5.

As Po approached the room he saw that the door was completely open, the panda examined it and saw that due to it's hinges showing strain that the door must have been kicked down. "Give it back now 'Zebra'!" Came a voice from within the room, Po looked up and saw that 'Giraffe' was standing facing someone in the room brandishing a knife at the same person.

To Po's surprise 'Giraffe' lifted up off of the floor like magic and was thrown towards the window, the glass wasn't worth a damn and shattered upon being struck by 'Giraffe', 'Giraffe's' coat ripped from the glass but he didn't fall out of the window he merely hit it then fell to the floor. Po gasped and ran over to help him, he couldn't let his bounty go to waste!

Po looked at 'Giraffe's' attackers but they had vanished, Po turned his attention back to 'Giraffe' but he saw that there was also a stab wound to the throat, "When did that happen?" Po wondered aloud, 'Giraffe' was definitely dead.

"Oh great!" Po complained, "You die and I lose my bounty!", the body moved slightly which made Po jump out of his skin for the second time in an hour, "Dammit would you stop scaring me like that!?"

"D-don't be...fooled by him...by...by the way he looks" 'Giraffe' wheezed, Po frowned at him, "Don't talk! Try to stay alive!" 'Giraffe' seemed to ignore him. "N-not me, _he_...needs help now...help _him_".

'Giraffe' slowed reached into his pocket and Po tensed as he expected a weapon but 'Giraffe' pulled a small ring out of it, it had a small red stone on the top of it which stood out against the rest of the gold ring. "Th-this stone..." 'Giraffe' couldn't finish his sentence and died.

"Wait!" Po yelled, he frowned again when he realized it was no use. The panda pocketed the ring and then just left the hotel room the way he found it, now he just had to worry about leaving the hotel without at all encountering the girl who he had met downstairs whom he could only assume wouldn't like him as much when she realized he had no intention of finding her.

XXXXXX

Po had quickly gone back to the 'Bebop' to tell his friends about what had happened, Tigress and Ping however were more interested about the little ring that Po had brought back. Ping looked at the stone intently, "Hmmmmm" he murmured, Po and Tigress stood side-by-side and waited for an answer from the goose like a child who was waiting for a Christmas present from a parent, Crane was also in the wagon but he (Like always) didn't take any interest in what the others were getting up to.

"I can't be sure until I examine more closely" Ping answered, he then looked at the two with a smirk, "But this may be worth a hefty sum" Tigress whooped with delight and jumped for joy, Po's reaction was more conservative and he merely smiled, it was just nice to have a victory for once.

Ping handed the ring back to Po, "So what do you wanna do you with it?" he asked, Po shrugged "I have no idea, the guy gives it to me and then dies on me, I don't see any reason for why we shouldn't keep it".

Tigress quickly snatched the ring off of Ping, "There _is _a reason" she said, Po and Ping looked at her so she would elaborate. Tigress rolled the ring about in her paw, "You're not responsible for that guy after all Po!" She was referring to the pair that had presumably done that to 'Giraffe'. Po grabbed it back off of her, "Gimme that!" Po threw her a dark look, "This thing is gonna pay for our food!" Nobody ever gets between Po and his food!

Tigress folded her arms and scowled at him, "Y'know, I think your heart is made out of stone", Ping picked up a piece of paper and started to fan it under his face, "Not like me Tigress, I'm a nice guy", she looked at him with disinterest, "What are you talking about goose?".

Ping held it out to her, "I have a gift for you" Tigress beamed, "Yay! You do?" The goose nodded and Tigress took it out of his outstretched wing, "I wonder what it is?" Tigress said out loud. Her face fell when she saw it was a list of some kind, she turned it back around to Ping and pointed at it, "And what's this?" Ping sat down and put his wings behind his head, "It's an official invoice I wrote up earlier of all the expenses and food you've eaten since being on our wagon".

Tigress snorted and threw it back at him, "I'm not paying for this" she said flatly. Seeing Crane at the back gave her a thought, "How come Crane doesn't have to pay for anything? He just sits around all day do whatever he wants!" Crane looked up at her blankly, "He's a mute bird who for most of his life has been used as an experiment and has very bad social skills, what exactly do you expect him to do?" asked Ping acidly, "Besides, he does whatever I ask him to, I think he's in debt to me and Po for freeing him".

"Which is exactly why I'm giving you this" he picked the invoice back up and handed it to Tigress, "You've done nothing but spend our money so I expect you to either start pulling your weight or pay up and leave!"

Tigress pouted and tore up the paper "Yeah I won't be doing that anytime soon." Ping frowned and watched the small scraps of paper drift to the floor, "It took me an hour to write that up" he muttered sadly.

XXXXXX

Many desserts were laid on the table ranging from cakes of all kinds, sweets and trifles. They seemed to glow majestically in the sunlight.

"Why do you want to know about this dead guy?" Fanny asked Ping suspiciously, he would have been more inquisitive but the amount of food distracted him, which is exactly the effect Ping had been going for.

"Well...uh" the goose replied, Fanny laughed and picked a fork up to begin eating. "So, you were after 'Giraffe' too were you?" he stabbed a bit of cake with it and lifted it to his mouth, "Did you get a good deal?" he asked while smirking at Ping.

Ping watched him shovel into his mouth, "Enjoying the sweets?" He asked sarcastically.

"I always do, there's no bounty in it y'know?" Fanny ate another portion of cake. Ping rolled his eyes, "Yeah you're right, there is nothing to gain here at all" he replied sarcastically again. Fanny frowned at him with his mouth still full, he quickly gulped it and looked accusingly at him.

Ping put his wings up in front of himself and chuckled, "No I mean it there's nothing on the line here". Fanny raised an eyebrow, "Yeah right Ping, you're going to owe me one for today."

He put down his cutlery and looked seriously at Ping, "Alright, y'know that kid on the blues harp the other day? His name is Wen and 'Giraffe' was after the kid's so called father, he was an old friend of his and he went by the name of 'Zebra' ".

Ping leaned forward, "They were friends?".

"Jeez Ping you didn't even know that! You're getting rusty. The tow of them were the leaders of the Self-Defense Volunteer Squad, they worked together until about ten years ago."

Ping closed his eyes and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I don't get it, why was he after an old comrade?"

Fanny took a deep breath. "Ten years ago they had a confrontation with some raiders. A land dispute. It all came down at some R&amp;D facility near the Valley of Peace. A few days later the raiders are wiped out, Zebras missing, and Giraffe is found blindfolded in a field. They say Zebra double crossed him so he could run the squad solo. Later, Zebra turns up in a wheelchair with the kid. Guess it didn't turn out the way he planned."

XXXXXX

Ping climbed back onto the 'Bebop' and saw Tigress laying looking up at the ceiling, "Where's Po?" he asked when he didn't see the panda anywhere. She looked up at him and sat up, "He left about an hour ago, he said he had a lead to check out."

Ping frowned, _"Why did Po leave her here alone? How can he trust her not to rob us or steal the 'Bebop'?" _he thought.

"So what did you find out? Did your contact tell you anything interesting?" Tigress asked snapping Ping out of his thoughts. Ping looked at her for a second before deciding to show her the same trust that Po had shown her by leaving her here with Crane, after all in the event he was wrong he got to say "I told you so" to Po and he always looked forward to that.

Ping sat down and explained everything to her that he had been told by Fanny, she nodded but mostly just listened to what was being said.

When he finished then she spoke, "So the bottom line is that 'Giraffe' was killed over some internal politics."

Ping shook his head, "Betrayal may come easily to you but men live by iron codes of honor." Tigress chuckled, "You really believe that?" Ping lowered his head, "After this case I'm trying really hard to."

XXXXXX

"AHHH" Po gasped, he sat up sharply and started to hyperventilate, he felt sweat on his hands and on his brow. Po looked around and remembered where he was, the room was thick with smoke from the opium that was being passed around the bar. Dim light barely coming from some overhead lanterns could barely get through the cloud, Po put his head in his hands and tried to forget what he had just remembered.

He had had a horrible dream.

A sharp, hollow sound pierced the air and made Po look up, his eyes drifted towards the small stage that was in the corner and he saw a young bear standing in the center of it blowing strongly into a harmonica, the tune he played was bluesy, not unlike the tune that Po often whistled to himself **(Session #1)**. Po blinked a few times groggily then he grabbed the alcohol that was sitting on the table in front of him and downed it quickly, he raised himself slowly out of the chair and left.

Po waited outside for a while until the young bear from the stage earlier walked out of the place pushing a wheelchair that had a huge bear sitting in it. Po had been told by Ping the whole story and had decided to come back and get some answers from little Wen.

He let them get a little distance ahead of him before he set off on a comfortable fast walk. It went on like this for a few minutes with Wen taking the most complex route possible, Po had the sneaking suspicion that the young bear knew that Po was following him and was deliberately trying to shake him off.

They turned another corner and again Po waited a few seconds and then rounded it after them, he gasped when he saw that they had completely disappeared. "How is that possible!?" He said aloud, he saw a door out of the corner of his eye and decided to check in there.

He opened the door and closed it as quietly as he could behind him, he stood still and listened to see if he could hear any of the wheelchair's movements however the only noises that Po could hear in the entire room were his own calm breath and his erratic, tense heartbeat. The room was dimly lit by the small amount of afternoon light coming through a small window which was mostly covered with a vast, black curtain. With the little light available Po walked slowly towards the center of the room, he didn't draw his knife because at the end of the day it was a small kid and a crippled man so Po was pretty confident that neither of them would be a problem to him.

Suddenly the room exploded with light as the curtain fell away from the window as if it had a mind of it's own. It blinded Po and he raised his knife with one hand whilst trying to cover his eyes with the other.

A small confident voice echoed throughout the room, "Tell me, who are you?" Po whipped around and found Wen looking at him blankly from out of the shadows, next to him was the old man in the wheelchair who didn't even acknowledge that Po was there as he just continued to stare at the ground like earlier.

Po smirked and moved his hand away from his face as his eyes adjusted to the sudden change in brightness. "I'm just some suspicious guy." Wen's expression didn't change, "What do you want here?" he asked monotonously.

"Before 'Giraffe' bought it he asked me to come here to help you". Wen didn't reply and just stared at Po as if he didn't know what was going on. Po lowered his weapon and decided to try the more civil route, "C'mon there's nothing to be afraid of, come here and let's talk." Po reached his arm out and before he could react Wen swiftly threw a small bladed star at Po which embedded itself into his arm, he hissed, drew in breath and tried to raise his knife but to no avail, Wen had thrown it into the perfect spot into his arm which stopped Po being able to move it at least for a short amount of time at any rate.

"You'd better stay out of it" Wen said threateningly as he withdrew another star and looked set to throw it this time however at Po's head. "A little twerp like you stick his head in and you might find that it gets cut off."

Po frowned, "Don't give that crap kid!"

Wen tilted his head slightly, "Sorry to disappoint you but I'm not a kid."

"Yeah all kids say that" Po replied, the blood from his wound was now dripping onto the floor.

"I know what I look like, but I was alive when this place was an outpost before anyone came here to settle down. Do you get the picture" he sneered.

XXXXXXX

_200 Years Ago_

_Wen stood up on a rock and placed the harp to his mouth, he take a breath and started to play a bluesy tune which his grandfather had taught him many years ago before had had died. The bear stayed that way for a few hours just getting lost in the sounds that he was creating until..._

_A huge *BOOM* pierced the moment, Wen looked up and saw a huge chunk of rock fall from the sky and land in a nearby field. The harp fell from Wen's lips in shock and he jumped off of the rock and quickly ran towards the crash site to see what had happened._

_He reached the site and saw the crater that had been created from the impact, the bear had never seen destruction on this kind of scale before...not all actually. Wen saw the object sitting at the bottom of the crater and up close it looked like a black, gooey like substance. It pulsed like it had a heartbeat and it had a morbid effect on the bear, as if he felt a huge sense of empathy towards whatever it was._

_He slid down into the bottom of the crater and reached out towards the object, it suddenly latched onto him and started to work it's way under his skin. The world went black but Wen could feel his legs turn to jelly and give out underneath him._

_6 days later..._

_Darkness...all that could be seen was darkness. Wen tried to feel around but the never-ending blackness prevented much exploration, his hands felt something rough and he tried to use it as an opening to get out of wherever he was._

_He used all of his strength and his black prison gave out and opened with almost no fight. The light blinded him, after six days of darkness what wouldn't? Wen fell out of the container which when he looked at it from the outside turned out to be the object that had fallen from the sky. The young bear panicked and ran away at the thought of being captured by it again._

_He found the rock he had been sitting on nearly a week ago and grabbed his mouth harp. He stumbled before sprinting away to find his family and try to explain his absence to them._

"From that day on my body completely stopped ageing" an evil smirk found it's way onto Wen's face, "I can't die." Po gasped and held his arm tighter as his arm was starting to lose it's feeling. "C-can't die? You can't be serious" he replied shakily, the bear slowly nodded "Oh but I am you fool! There was always someone doing experiments on me but they all died and I kept on living."

He gestured with his head towards Zebra who still hadn't moved during the entire confrontation. "The end for this guy came during his time in the Self-Defense Volunteer Squad. I needed a new cover, someone to play my parent."

Giraffe's words from earlier echoed in Po's mind. _"D-don't be...fooled by him...by...by the way he looks. N-not me, _he_...needs help now...help _him."_  
_

"I think Zebra is the third guy I've used for this...or is it the fourth? It's been so long I can't remember" Wen said whilst shrugging nonchalantly, his expression then turned serious again as he focused back on the bleeding panda. "Now, where is the ring?"

Po decided to play dumb, even if it got him killed. "Ring? What Ring!?" He yelled back.

Again like lighting another star flew towards him but this time it harmlessly struck and stuck in the floor in front of him, a warning shot? He'd already hit him so why bother with a warning? "That's okay, even if you did have it it would just be a case of casting pearls before a swine."

Po quickly leaped into the shadowy areas of the building and quickly found cover, as he ran he heard the sharp metallic sounds of the tiny stars hitting the environment. Po quickly caught his breath and decided to make a beeline for his weapon, after all this kid...no, this _guy_ had_ decades _of combat experience and Po was wounded so the panda needed any advantage that he could possibly get. He focused and took a deep breath, he counted to three and then sprinted out again across the beams of light towards where he had dropped his knife earlier.

A small star grazed his forehead but he didn't stop. He dived into cover again and felt around for his blade, his paw found it and drew it in front of him. Even with his good arm he was still shaky but he was driven but an animalistic sense of survival, it had helped him many times throughout his existence and this would be one of those time.

He jumped out of cover and threw his blade with all of his strength towards his opponent, time seemed to move in slow motion as he watched it fly into Wen and into his hand, the small bear hissed with pain and dropped his stars. Po quickly stood up and ran towards Wen to finish this, Wen panicked and ran behind Zebra, Po stopped at the bottom of the small metal staircase that led up to where Wen had been standing and watched as Wen pushed Zebra's wheelchair with the owner still in it down the stairs towards Po.

Zebra fell onto Po and brought the panda down to the ground, Wen saw his chance and climbed up on some nearby boxes towards a high window. Po roughly pushed Zebra off of himself and ran up the metal stairs, Wen smashed the window open and jumped out. Po leaped up onto the boxes using all of his agility and went to jump out of the window too but stopped when he saw the massive drop onto the ground below. He saw Wen's broken form at the bottom and Po drew a sigh of relief at the bear's bluff...until the boy's body began to piece itself together.

"No way..." Po breathed.

Indeed it was true, Wen was immortal. Po contemplated this as Wen got up after his body had fixed itself and then he darted away into the night. "Dammit!" Po roared as he slammed his good hand into the wall, he frowned and took a deep breath.

His gaze hovered over Zebra's body.

XXXXXXX

"Ow!"

"Stop whining you big klutz! You're lucky that you got away with this big scratch on your arm" Ping said as he bandaged up Po's wound. "Yeah, I feel lucky" Po replied sarcastically, Ping pulled the bandage deliberately tight, "Hey think about me! If you had died I couldn't have paid for a funeral"

Po sighed, "I'm sorry" he said quietly. Ping stopped as he looked into Po's eyes and saw that he was being serious, the goose nodded and carried on.

I'm glad you two are having your little male bonding session over there but would you mind answering me one question? WHY DID YOU BRING A CORPSE BACK WITH YOU!" Yelled Tigress while pointing at Zebra's body which was laid on the floor of the 'Bebop', Crane was stood next to her and judging by his expression he agreed with Tigress.

Ping looked at them and frowned, "Oh shut up Tigress, and don't give me that look Crane. Don't be obnoxious either of you!" Tigress and Crane sat down and pouted with their arms/wings folded.

Crane looked at Zebra's face and saw something glint in the body's eye, the bird stood up and got closer. He looked into Zebra's eye and saw a tear streak down his face, the bird's heart skipped a beat and he jumped back in silent panic crashing into a table, "Dammit Crane! Watch what you're doing I'm trying to fix Po up!" Yelled Ping.

Crane stood up and went over to Tigress, he grabbed her sleeve and tugged on it desperately, "What do you want you cretin?" she asked irritably. He comically tried to both pull Tigress to Zebra and tried to mime what he had seen, "Hey guys, I think Crane found something on Zebra and he wants to show us" said Tigress in an unconvinced tone of voice.

Ping sighed and threw his first aid kit down, "If it'll shut you guys up for five minutes me and Po will look!" The panda stood up and they all looked at where Crane was pointing to..."He...killed Giraffe" Zebra whispered...Po, Ping, Tigress and Crane all froze and felt chills go down their back, there was a small silence before..."AHHH HE'S A ZOMBIE!" Screamed Po like a little girl, Crane leaped into his arms, Tigress tried to find something to destroy him with and Ping face-palmed at his crew's panic.

Ping calmed them down and sat near Zebra's head, "Do you know who you are?" he said softly. Zebra nodded slowly, "I don't have long...you need to know how to kill him" everyone hung on his every word, it was clear that this would be his last act.

Zebra tried to grab some air and seemed to struggle with it, all the 'Bebop' crew could do was watch the pitiful creature limp on. "Do...you..have the ring?" he mumbled, Po nodded and grabbed it off of the nearby table, "Yeah we do, what are we supposed to do with it?" Zebra ignored his question and carried on, "With it, you can return time to him."

"You mean make him mortal?" asked Tigress. Zebra nodded again, "You must...try and...administer it to him...through his bloodstream." Zebra's eyes glazed over, "I've...told you how to kill him...no do it" They watched as the life finally faded from his eyes, the last remnants of the Self-Defense Volunteer Squad was no more.

Ping closed his eyes over with his wing and then stood up, "This is what we do. Crane, you go and bury Zebra nearby and make it neat." The bird nodded and grabbed a shovel that was underneath the table, he walked out of the 'Bebop' to start digging. "Po, give me your knife and I'll try to out whatever is inside the ring onto it so you can finish him off." Po nodded and handed over his blade and the ring to Ping who immediately took the jewel out of it and started to work on it.

Po looked up at Tigress and gave her a small smile, he pointed at his unfinished bandages "Hey Tigress, would you mind?" She smiled and shook her head, Po sat back down where he had been earlier and Tigress took Ping's place. They sat in a comfortable silence but Po had the idea that she wanted to say something to him, Crane eventually came back looking dirty and tired, he carefully grabbed Zebra's body and put it over his shoulder.

They all stopped what they were doing and watched Crane take the body outside, they waited for a second and heard the *THUD* as Zebra's body landed at the bottom of the pit, they carried on after that.

Tigress finished Po's wrappings and they looked at each other for a second, some mutual understanding of what Po was going to do passed between them and Tigress looked...upset at the thought of Po going to fight an immortal creature. Po internally refuted that as he was sure that Tigress genuinely cared nothing for him and certainly nothing for Ping or Crane.

The moment was interrupted by a blood red knife being shoved into Po's face, Po and Tigress looked awkwardly up at Ping who was handing Po's weapon back at him. Po gratefully took it and looked upon what Ping had done to it, it was now blood red and it seemed to have a certain weight to it that it didn't have before.

Ping sighed, "I'm sorry Po, but there's no way to know whether this thing will actually work until you stick it into the kid and see what happens" The goose frowned, "Anything could happen, it could blow sky high the moment it hits and you would be killed" Po stood up and smirked at him, "I'm glad" he placed the knife on it's holster around his waist "This makes it much more interesting this way, after all we wouldn't want to make things too easy for that little runt."

Ping merely nodded and watched as Po grabbed his straw hat and tipped it over his eyes, the panda stretched and jumped out of the 'Bebop'. Tigress quickly landed in front of him, "Yes my dear?" he said charmingly. Tigress looked sad for a second again before covering it up very quickly, she folded her arms and smirked cruelly. "I just thought I'd come and say goodbye to you Po, after all it will be the last time that I'll see you."

Po chuckled, "What? You mean you're finally leaving us?" Tigress shook her head and jabbed her finger in his face, "No! I mean you're not coming back." Po looked up at Ping, "I don't like this set up Ping, I don't like it at all."

Po gently pushed past Tigress and walked off into the night to find Wen. Tigress watched his retreating figure with sad eye, "Po is such an idiot" she murmured to herself.

XXXXXX

Wen went back to the warehouse after escaping Po, he needed to get Zebra back, if that annoying panda found out how to kill him then he was in trouble. The bear had waited for a few hours in an alley nearby on the off chance that Po was still waiting on the inside for him , eventually Wen decided to just risk it after all he was immortal but that didn't mean much when his opponent was someone like him.

Wen reached the door and put his ear up against it, he heard nothing so he opened the door and closed it as quietly as he could behind him, he stood still and listened to see if he could hear any of the panda's movements however the only noises that Wen could hear in the entire room were his own calm breath and his erratic, tense heartbeat. The room was dimly lit by the small amount of moonlight coming through the now open window. With the little light available Wen walked slowly towards the center of the room, he didn't draw his stars because at the end of the day it was a heavily wounded and bleeding out panda so Wen was pretty confident that he of them would be a problem to him.

He felt something wet underneath his feet but it was so dark he couldn't' see what it was, he smelt the air and realized that there was a very pungent smell in the room. Before he could figure out what it was..."I knew you'd come back here, for someone who's immortal it's seems natural that you're a creature of habit" Came Po's voice piercing the darkness, Wen jumped in shock and whipped around trying to spot it's source. He heard a small striking noise and he turned and saw Po standing behind him.

In his hand was a box of matches one of which he had just struck, the small light showed Po showing a toothy smirk, before Wen could do anything Po threw the match a couple of feet in front of him and Wen panicked when he realized what he was standing in. "It's Naphtha!"

Po quickly jumped and then dived behind a corner as the room exploded in a huge fire ball. Po held his hand over his ears and covered his eyes just in case of any shrapnel. He waited until the world stopped shaking then he stood up, poked his around the corner and surveyed the damage, the whole room had been totaled with there now being a whole in the ceiling which let the full moonlight illuminate the arena.

Po smiled as he thought he had won but he saw a mass move about in the middle of the room, he moved closer to it and saw that it was Wen's arm. Po frowned and almost felt bad for doing that but he disgust was replaced by shock as he saw that it had started to shake more rapidly and something started to form out of it.

It grew into a body and then legs, Po watched as it distorted itself into Wen's original form, it had even managed to create the clothes he had just been wearing. Wen shook his head and laughed at Po's shocked expression, "That's the closest I've come to death in a long time panda! I can't believe you thought that would work!"

Po withdrew the knife quickly and Wen's eyes widened when he saw what it was, "No! Don't!" He said panicking. Po charged at Wen and thrust the knife towards him, Wen dodged and kicked Po in the face, the panda quickly recovered and charged in again quickly so that Wen would have no time for a reprieve. Wen took a star out in mid-air and threw it towards Po, Po didn't even flinch as it grazed his cheek and drew blood.

Po jumped over Wen and sweeped his legs out from under him, Wen hit the ground and quickly found a knife sticking in his chest. He tried to regenerate but he immediately felt that something was wrong as he felt some superior and unknown force stop him from regenerating the body that had been damaged. Po sighed and watched Wen die.

However Po was nearly sick as he watched Wen quickly decompose and hemorrhage, it was like watching a body rot in fast forward, Wen's eyes dried up and fell out of his head, his hands rotted and his claws fell out, the fur on his body quickly went grey/white and fall out in clumps to the ground. Wen reached up towards Po angrily but the life left him too quickly for Wen to do anything.

His body then turned into dust and most of it was scattered away to the wind. Po went to pick up his knife from the remains but groaned when he saw that the red blade had also dissolved leaving only the handle of his favorite knife, the panda sighed and threw the handle away from with all of his strength, Po reached up to his cheek and feel the blood running down his face.

"I'm sure that Ping will be glad that he's having to patch me up again" Po went to walk away back to the 'Bebop' but he saw something shiny sticking out of the pile of ash that had once been Wen's body, Po brushed the ashes away and scooped up Wen's Blues Harp. Po stared at it for a second before throwing it into the air, he smirked as it flew through the air and one saying came to mind as he pointed his fingers at it in a projectile like formation.

It's an old Chinese saying, a phrase of great power and wisdom, a consolation to the soul in times of need, it spreads hope to whoever hears it and grants fear to whatever evil may hear it.

_"Skadoosh"_

**Teaser**

**Ping pulled up a stool and hopped up onto it, he cleared his throat. "Once in a while I do the preview myself, I'm Ping and I'm 36 years old, I'm often told that I don't look 36 but you shouldn't judge people based on what they look like…or how much hair they have." **

**Ping coughed in embarrassment and rubbed his bald head meekly.**

"**Things are never what they seem to be and that's how the next session is too, it's a story that seems very unlike the others, next session Waltz for Venus. Stuff like this is good too y'know"**

**End Teaser**

**It's been a while since I asked a personal favor but I just wanted to ask whether you would go to my new youtube channel and subscribe. We have all of our old videos there still so if you want to see anything from KFP month then this would be the best place to go to in order for you to hear my thoughts on this franchise. The channel is called Middlemencomms type it in as you see it and it is the channel without the space in it's name. If you do like it don't forget to leave a comment and/or a personal message. I'll even take question for it on here if you want.  
**

** channel/UCyOGGlO1Tuo8Od95KThn86w**


	7. Session 7: Waltz for Venus

**The Dragon Warrior Blues**

**Sorry that this took so long, hopefully with my laptop repaired these should be written faster. I hope this was worth the wait!**

**Session #7 Waltz for Venus**

Rocco Bonnaro hated boats, ever since he was a kid the thought of going on one made him feel queasy, even when he went with his sister who made everything feel better. The snoring panda in front of him hadn't made the journey any better for him.

He was on the boat to deliver an important package, it meant everything to him and giving it to the person who needed it had been his life's mission for about ten years now.

"EVERYBODY HANDS IN THE AIR!" Rocco jumped out of his skin when the yell rang throughout the room, he peeked out from his seat and gulped nervously when he saw that everyone was being robbed by some bandits. He was on a commercial boat so he knew he was asking for trouble, he cursed silently when he realized they would want something off of him and the only thing he owned currently besides the ticket was the package in his lap.

"Please! I'm an important man, take what you want off of the others but I'm too important to die!" Cried a deer from the front, one of the bandits walked over and smacked him in the face with the hilt of the short sword he was carrying, that seemed to get the message across. "One more word out of you and you'll be the most important man here with no hands, got it!"

The deer nodded meekly and his resignation seemed to make the hold up more legitimate as everyone around Rocco sighed and put their hands in the air. Rocco panicked and sunk lower in his seat so they hopefully wouldn't notice him, "Damn it!" he hissed, "Why did this have to be the day!?".

He thought he was okay for a second but then, "Hey! Are you listening to me?" Rocco looked up slowly and saw that one of the bandits was talking to the sleeping panda in front of him, Rocco watched in disbelief as the panda carried on sleeping through the event.

The bandit leaned in close and Rocco could almost smell the alcohol on his breath, he didn't envy the panda. The panda received a sharp slap across the face,"I said GET UP!" The panda's eyes opened slowly and as if he was mocking the bandit he yawned loudly, "Huh?" he said sleepily.

"Now that I have your attention, PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" The panda blinked dumbly and stretched his arms out and punched the bandit straight in the face, if Rocco didn't know any better he'd say the panda had done it by accident.

The bandit stumbled back from the surprisingly weighty punch and couldn't believe someone had the balls to punch him when they were surrounded by his comrades. He regained his composure and growled, "Right that's it!" He brandished his sword and swung it horizontally to cut the panda's head off, the panda yawned again and ducked down, the momentum from the swing made the bandit moved forward slightly which the panda capitalized on with a swift headbutt to the jaw.

There was a swift crack as the jaw broke and teeth flew through the air. Another bandit saw what was happening and went to help his friend, he ran towards the panda's exposed back, Rocco saw that the panda was in danger and yelled out "Watch out!" The panda grabbed the bandit's arm and threw him over his shoulder, the shoulder made a small sound as it was pulled out of it's shoulder.

The panda yawned again and rubbed his head sleepily, "Sorry about that" he said both tiredly and unconvincingly. Another bandit came from behind but a tigress got him in a choke hold and knocked him unconscious. "Think again my precious bounty heads" she said mockingly, her voice was like velvet and Rocco couldn't help but find her attractive despite the fact she could probably kill him with ease.

She looked up at the sleepy panda and frowned,"Po! Why did you fall asleep? You could have botched the operation!" The panda who Rocco now understood was named Po simply shrugged and leaned up against the wall.

XXXXXX

"Don't be ridiculous!" Yelled Rocco at old owl behind the counter, for the past five minutes he had been trying to get the fickle owl to send the package for him. "5,000 Wulong is too much for me, can you please lower it? It's important to me that this gets to it's destination" he begged.

The owl shook her head, "No I'm sorry 5,000 is our going rate." Rocco growled irritably, "Going rate? Where does is say that? Could you show me that in writing?"

"Look, you're sending this to a special location and not a residence that's why it's so high" she said stiffly, obviously she was used to dealing with irritable people who'd just gotten off a boat. Rocco sighed and smiled sweetly, "All right then, could you please do this for me?" He said as sincerely and polite as possible.

As with his other attempts it was met with stony silence. He prepared to start another rant when out of exasperation he saw the panda from earlier walking down the street, Rocco dived into his pocket and pulled out the 5,000 wulong for the delivery, he slammed it onto the counter, "Make sure it gets there, or else!" He threatened.

Unperturbed the owl picked up the money and put it behind the counter. Rocco ran after the panda.

XXXXXX

Po whistled to himself as he counted the money in his hands, "Thanks for the pay off" he said to nobody in particular, as soon as they'd exited he boat they'd handed over the bandits to local authorities and Po had been given a form and told to report to a local bounty hunter station to receive his money.

"Hi" Po stopped dead in his tracks and looked up from his cash to see Tigress smiling sweetly at him, "What do you want?" He replied gruffly. Tigress, unaffected by Po's grumpiness held out her paw, "My half for helping you get those guys."

Po looked around, "You want me to just hand you a lot of money right here in the open?" Tigress smirked mockingly, "Scared panda?" Po frowned, "No, but someone coul-" Tigress snatched the money off of him and took her half. Po looked at his half then sighed, "I think _I _just got robbed."

Tigress laughed and started to walk off, "That's all you're going to get Tigress" Po said after her, "I know don't sweat it" She replied disinterestedly. "Depositing it at the casino again?" Po asked irritably, she carried on but called out "Why not? It's much more exciting then a bank."

Po rubbed his head as he watched her figure disappear into the distance, "Huh, that girl never gives up." He heard someone run at him from behind so he sidestepped and stuck out his foot, a young looking red panda yelped as he tripped over Po's foot and crashed into the ground, he saw a knife fly out of his palm and land next to him. The red panda had a bag strapped to his back which Po noticed he did everything in his power in order to avoid landing on.

Po folded his arms and smirked "I really hate dealing with pickpockets" he said dismissively.

The red panda just started giggling which soon turned into a hearty laugh. "Amazing, you really are amazing" he said happily. Po watched him spring to his feet energetically with a bored expression, "All right, you're the guy that took those hijackers out right?" Po nodded slowly.

"You've got some smooth moves my friend, can I ask you a favour?" Po tilted his head, "Hmm" he replied non-plussed. The red panda looked around before pointing at himself, "Could you teach a guy like me to learn some of those fancy kung fu moves" he started to make some over-the-top motions with his hands as if he was simulating real kung fu moves.

Po rolled his eyes and abruptly walked off leaving the red panda dumbstruck. Po smirked to himself, _"I think he got the message", _"Hey, wait a minute!" Po sighed and cursed silently. The red panda walked alongside, "Where are you going? I wanna be a tough guy like you."

Po huffed, "You are really annoying, and what about me walking off sounded anything like a yes to you?" Po started to walk down some steps, the guy stopped at the top of them, "Oh come on, I can do it! Just give me a try." Po again responded by ignoring him and carrying on with his path.

Po turned when he didn't hear that annoying voice, _"He stopped? Thank the gods, I don't know how much more of that I could tak-"_ Po rounded a corner and gasped when the same guy was in front of him panting heavily with sweat patches on his shirt. "C'mon, just a few moves? Think of it as helping a guy out, y'know show some mercy and compassion isn't that what you martial arts guys are all about?"

Po pushed past him, "I'm afraid I'm all out of that stuff" How had that guy got there so quick? and how did he even know where Po was going? In fact Po groaned internally when he realized _he _didn't even know where he was going.

"My name is Rocco Bonnaro master and its a pleasure to meet you!"

XXXXXX

_Meanwhile back with the 'Bebop'_

Ping smirked and leaned back in his chair, it felt good to finally get a bounty for once. "The first reward we've picked up in a long time" he said to Crane who couldn't look any less interested, the bird had taken to wearing a straw hat they had found a few weeks ago so he could fall asleep without anybody noticing him, he was trying to do so now as he knew that when Ping got started he wouldn't shut up.

"So I've got some tasty food for us all" These words actually registered with Crane and he found a smirk work its way onto his beak despite himself, "All thanks to the brilliant mastermind" Ping said smugly referring to himself. He grabbed the nearby 'Big Shot' and went through its recent articles.

"Let's see who's up next"

XXXXXXX

Po placed a paw on Rocco's and moved it into position, "I'm telling you, don't tense up" Rocco raised an eyebrow, "How am I supposed to knock someone out when my hand is all limp?"It was a reasonable question for someone who wasn't as deep into their martial arts as Po.

He took his paw away and folded his arms, "Its not about strength or power, you have to be fluid " Rocco scratched his head in confusion "Huh?" Po demonstrated by striking a pose and moving his hands about, "You have to be like water, you see what I'm saying?" Rocco shook his head, "Not really"

Po sighed and walked away from him "All right, come at me with your knife like you did earlier" Rocco smirked cockily and moved a little bit away to give Po some more room, "You're gonna get hurt y'know?" he said arrogantly. Po rolled his eyes and got into another similar looking pose, "Just do it" he replied impatiently.

Rocco removed the knife and ran at Po full pelt, Po didn't even blink as he moved again and punched Rocco to the ground from behind. Rocco groaned and rubbed his now sore back, "how did you do that?" He asked through gritted teeth, the blow had hurt far more then he would've believed but he would never show it to this random stranger.

Po looked up into the sky as is the moment was nostalgic for him, Rocco didn't know that the moment was very reminiscent of a moment from Po's past. "You're tense, I'm calm. You apply excessive force; I control that force through fluid motion. That means relaxing the whole body so it can react instantly without resistance—no, without thought. Do you see now? It means becoming like clear water."

Rocco nodded while trying to absorb the information, "Water". Po nodded "Right. Water can take any form. It drifts without effort one moment, then pounds down in a torrent the very next."

Rocco sat up, "Maybe I get it but maybe not" Suddenly a yell was heard down the street as a trio of ox in suits were running down the side walk towards Po and Rocco, Rocco gasped and stood up sharply. Po looked at the incoming group with a frown but then felt something being pushed into his hands.

He looked down and saw Rocco's package in his arms, he looked into Rocco's pleading face. "Hold onto this for me okay? Meet me tonight- no tomorrow night in the cathedral at the edge of town" Po had his mouth open in shock but he didn't get a chance to reply as Rocco ran off with the ox in pursuit.

Po frowned and looked at the strange shaped package in his hands, "Right then" he said irritably.

XXXXXX

Ping frowned "Casinos again?" he said irritably, "The ones around here are famous for stacking the deck" he continued. Po continued staring at the package that kid had given to him a few hours ago, it was sat on the table inside the 'Bebop'.

He had only just gotten back and told Ping where Tigress was. "It doesn't matter" Po said dismissively, "It's her life let her mess it up however she wants to."

Ping groaned and stood up to stretch his back, "On top of that she just takes off whenever she wants and doesn't tell us when she'll be back." He grabbed the Big Shot on the table and thrust it in Po's face, "Well there's no use just sitting around here go and make some more pocket money for us"

Po looked at the part he was pointing at and Ping started filling in the details for him, it was a picture of a fat looking cat and surrounding it were drawings of his associates. "Piccoro Calvino, usually a petty crook for bigger fish but by some miracle he pulled off a massive hit this time, the price is doubled if we bring in the whole crew" Ping finished like an excited schoolgirl, he always got like this around money.

Po's eyes started to go through the pictures of his associates. He suddenly saw a familiar looking face in the corner, he looked at the name underneath and felt goosebumps as he saw that one of Piccoro's associates was the red panda he had seen earlier, Rocco.

Ping continued not noticing his friend's expression, "He stole a rare plant named the 'Grey Ash' which is used to cure Venus sickness, they're very hard to grow and worth tens of millions of wulong." Po quickly undid the package in front of them and gasped when he saw it was the Grey Ash described by the paper, it was covered in a glass case and sat on a small stand, it had red petal and a black stalk.

Ping's beak nearly hit the table, "Where did you get that?"

XXXXXX

Rocco accidentally pushed someone over in his rush to get away, he looked back and saw an old man on the ground, "Sorry"he yelled over his shoulder, not like this small gesture would make his hastiness seem any more dignified.

He had been chased around for a few hours now by the same guys. He was used to this kind of chase so he was only just starting to feel his muscles strain and burn whereas his pursuers were more used to close quarters situations and rarely had to actually chase someone down.

Rocco ducked into an alley and heard the oxes stop for a second and loudly pant and gasp to get their breath back, "Shit! Where did that little bastard go!" One of them said angrily. Rocco put a paw over his mouth so they wouldn't hear him breath, they waited for a second then carried on northwards in the vague hope of just bumping into him, they didn't want to have to go back to the boss with bad news, Piccoro was well known for having an ugly temper.

Rocco let out a long breath and grinned to himself, "Yeah *pant* not bad."

XXXXXX

"I say we keep it" Tigress said while tapping on the glass case covering the Grey Ash. "Its worth a lot more then those hoods we got earlier" she said to Po, "Compared to this their reward was chump change."

After a second of silence Ping shook his head, "No, we can't" Tigress scoffed, "It took you a long time to say that goose!"

Ping scowled, "Don't be an idiot this thing is too hot! It's too dangerous for us to hold onto" Tigress shrugged and smirked, "Sometimes you've just gotta take a risk on things" Ping smiled cockily, "How much did you lose at that casino?"

Tigress leaned back and pouted, "What's that?" she asked trying to change the subject. Po stood up and grabbed his hat, "Piccoro is up to you two, I'll find Rocco"

Tigress raised her hand sarcastically like she was at school, "Uh question, you've got an appointment with him why don't you just wait there for him instead of just going a day early and looking like an idiot." Po pulled his hat down and tapped the glass case of the Grey Ash, "They say that Lady Bounty is very fickle"

Ping handed the address to Po, "This place is in the middle of nowhere, only crazies live there so why would this kid want you to meet him there?" Po shrugged, "I guess I'll find out." He left the 'Bebop' and walked to the cathedral.

Tigress frowned after him, "Its Lady Luck moron"

XXXXXXX

It had taken Po hours to get there but when he did he took his hat off and was left in awe at the sight, the cathedral was sitting by itself in the middle of a grassy field but in a surreal twist it had a tree growing through the middle of its roof, the building had many cracks from what the panda could see but he assumed it would be worse the closer he got to it.

_"Strange, this doesn't look like its well protected or a place that seems safe so why would Rocco want to meet me here? I'd better be careful this seems like a risk" _

Po walked to the cathedral and knocked on the door strongly, the boom it created was fantastic and Po looked around and saw that the grass had stopped flowing rather creepily, the panda opened the door and stepped inside.

It was dark besides some light that poured through from the gaps in the ceiling, it created a creepy atmosphere and left Po on edge as he walked, he came to some steps and stopped. He reached his hand out hesitantly for a guard rail of some sort and breathed a sigh of relief as his hand came into contact with one, although he could feel it had rusted slightly.

He climbed the staircase which was short and lead to a balcony overlooking the main altar. Po looked around and frowned when he saw a small wooden chair about 20 inches in front of him, he got closer and saw oddly that it had some knitting on it. He reached out to inspect it but a knife poked out next to it and brandished itself at him.

"Hold it right there!" The voice was timid and female, they clearly weren't used to threatening people. Po's eyes went up along the women's arm and saw that she was another red panda, this one however and younger and wore a shawl over her head along with a tidy, plain yellow dress, the strangest thing was she wasn't actually looking at Po, more like looking over his shoulder.

"Hands in the air!" Po smiled and complied, "I'm not a criminal honest, wait, I guess that does make me sound more like a criminal doesn't it?" Un-amused the red panda replied, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Po frowned and looked at her eyes, they seemed to be clouded over. "Well? Spit it out!" She yelled but in her inexperience she went to hit him with the hilt of the blade and tripped over, Po reacted instantly and grabbed her before she fell.

He lifted her onto her feet and she pushed him away, "Let go" she whimpered clearly embarrassed at having made such a rookie mistake and needing saving from the person she was trying to threaten. "I'm sorry" Po said softly, "I just came here to meet Rocco"

Instantly at the mention of Rocco her features brightened and a smile made its way onto her face instantly making her look prettier, "Y-y'mean that you're a friend of Rocco's?" Po scratched the back of his head, "Well not rea-" she cut him off "I'm glad" she replied with a smile.

XXXXXXX

Rocco stepped into a public restroom quietly, he had stayed hidden throughout the night and managed to evade Piccoro's henchmen, now he just needed to find that panda from yesterday and get the Grey Ash back from him, but first nature called and he needed to relieve himself.

He walked in and immediately went to the nearest cubicle, he quickly did his business and went to wash his hands, there was a big guy standing at the sinks and Rocco walked over to him cheerfully whistling, he looked over at the guy and felt his blood run cold when he saw that it was Piccoro himself.

The cat glared at him and gestured towards the sink, "You going to wash your hands you little punk!?" Rocco heard the cubicles open behind him and snickering as some of the cat's henchmen walked up behind him.

Rocco chuckled nervously, "Hi."

XXXXXXX

"Its all because of those flowers" the girl said while sitting back down on her chair, "They only grow inside this cathedral." Po raised an eyebrow, "How can they grow in here?" She ignored him and carried on, "The spores that are left behind feel like snow"

Po watched as she raised a paw and touched her cheek, "Most people aren't affected by it" she said softly, "As soon as they touched my skin I lost my eyesight." Po shifted uncomfortably, "That must have been very difficult for you."

She smiled, "Its surprising how quickly you can adapt, and in a funny way you appreciate and understand more when you can't see, I did at any rate."

"Will it ever get better?" Po asked referring to her sight, her smile dropped a little bit and her form sagged slightly, "If we have a lot of money, the truth is I don't really mind if I have to stay like this but Rocco..." She trailed off, Po knew what she was going to say and picked up the slack. ""But he cares about his little sister" He said under his breath, she seemed to hear it however and started to smile again.

She reached under the chair and pulled out a small box, it's outside was covered in a worn wood and it had a small velvet ribbon tied around it, her motion was quick and graceful so she must have done this several times a day, Po frowned to himself when he thought of the daylight she hadn't seen.

"Look" she said, "Rocco sent me this a few days ago" She held it out for Po to grab which he did, the panda ran his paw over the smooth finish and he softly opened it, music begin to gently play out of it,it was a long forgotten melody that filled him with both sadness and happiness, hope and despair.

"I know...that people say bad things about him, and I know that he hangs out with some bad people too, but Rocco has a good heart" she insisted, Po felt like she wasn't really talking to him, more to herself so she could justify his actions as they were only there to benefit herself. Po looked up from the box, "Y'know, I could be one of those bad people that he hangs around with" he said dryly.

She giggled, "Maybe,you could be one. But there's something very different about you, I can feel these things, both you and Rocco have something very beautiful inside of you. It's hard for most people to see it but it's there, I know it, that's why I showed you this music box." Po's eye went to the box again and he saw that there was a small tab on the inside, the music had stopped by this point so the only sounds in the hall were the ones Po was making.

He pulled the tab and the box unfolded slightly to show him a small object, it was a little clear square that had some seeds in it. Po stiffened slightly and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, _"Grey Ash seeds!"_ He walked over and looked over the balcony at the altar, "Something beautiful huh? I think I lost that a long time ago" He said sadly.

XXXXXXX

The bar was thick with smoke from opium and the stench of sweat and defeat. The opening of the entrance did nothing but make the heads of every patron turn to face the pretty tiger that was standing in it, she got the usual stares and wolf whistles as she moved looking for a certain person.

When she spotted him she immediately made a beeline for him, the tiger grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up almost effortlessly, he was a monkey wearing a sweat stained vest and he reeked of alcohol. "I want Piccoro! Where is he!?" Yelled Tigress in the guy's face.

He chuckled humourlessly and made Tigress's nose twitch from his breath, "I've never heard of him sweetheart" his words were slurred and monotone, most likely from the copious amounts of booze he had consumed. Her ear twitched when she heard chairs move back, she had apparently ruffled some feathers at the mention of the cat's name so she let go of the loser and threw a punch behind her, she was right on money as her fist connected with someone's face.

The guy flew over a table and ruined a card game, two more guys came at her but she launched a kick at one guy's leg and felt the satisfying feeling of his bones breaking, a shriek confirmed her prognosis as the bone left his body, Tigress unsheathed her claws and slashed the remaining mook across the face making sure he would never forget trying to attack a lady.

She turned back to the monkey, "_Now _have you heard of him!"

"A-as a matter of fact!"

XXXXXXX

Ping nearly fell off of his chair, "Huh! You're asking me for the price of Grey Ash seeds?" Po nodded, "Yeah, I'm just curious." Ping shook his head, "Well don't be! You'll be lucky if you ever see one there about as pricey as gems, you're lucky if you ever see one... Well, it might be difficult to sell them once you get them but I would say 8 million each."

Ping leaned forward expectantly and couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth both rise in an excited smirk. "Why? You got some?!"

Po shook his head and stuck his hand back inside his pocket, "No" he replied indignantly as if the idea was ridiculous to him.

Disappointment fell onto Ping's and he leaned back again, "No, I didn't think you'd be so lucky."

"Did you catch Piccoro yet?" Po asked, Ping shook his head. "No, not yet. Just don't screw up your end!"

Po nodded and bagged up the Grey Ash plant, "I'm gonna go meet him now."

XXXXXXX

Rocco crashed into the fence and then fell over, he could already feel the bruises starting to form from that one. Piccoro chuckled darkly and took a lungful of a cigar he had just lit.

"Rocco, you can be a nice boy and tell us where the plant is, or..." His sentence was finished by the thugs around him cracking their knuckles and forming closer around Rocco.

The red panda chuckled nervously and tried to look confident when he replied, "Well I'd be happy to Pico', but I accidentally dropped it earlier" Without issuing a command the thugs moved in closer, Rocco felt his chest tighten. "You guys don't believe that do y-" A punch to the chest was his only reply.

They beat on him for a minute or two, Rocco struggled to remember later due to the pain. After wailing on him the mooks moved to let Piccoro have a say. Rocco struggled to get up and uses the fence to lean on.

"Like I said, you're a good kid Rocco. You have a younger sister right? I heard she was a sweet young thing." Rocco's breath caught in his throat, "She's got nothing to do with this!"

The fat cat blew smoke in his face and sneered. "And she'll continue to have nothing to do with this if you tell us where you put that goddamn plant!" Rocco weighed up his options. "Its uh-" Piccoro patience ran out and he took the cigar out of his mouth and jabbed it into Rocco's forehead.

The panda yelled into the night.

XXXXXXX

Tigress kicked the door down and leaped in with her fangs and claws bared. She heard a yelp and ran into a room to find the source, she scowled when she reached a bedroom and saw two half-naked male antelopes having clearly been interrupted during the middle of something private.

Tigress advanced onto the top one, grabbed his face and ran a claw down it. "I want to know where Piccoro is...a quick answer would probably be best for you" While she said this she drew blood on his cheek.

He shook with fear, "Okay okay! J-just let me get dressed alright!?"

XXXXXXX

Rocco walked miserably by himself towards the cathedral where he had agreed to meet that panda from earlier. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he walked past a fountain, "Yo" came a calm voice from the darkness.

Rocco almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Po leaning against the fountain with his bag over his shoulder. "So, you didn't want to meet in the cathedral? Its only a short walk away and we won't be so open." Po kept his calm gaze on Rocco without blinking.

Po held the bag out in an outstretched paw, "Sorry, but I took a peek inside." Rocco's eyes narrowed, "I see, so, you know what it is?" Po nodded, "Its Grey Ash, quite a humble name for such an amazing plant."

Po looked up at the night sky and continued, "Its awesomeness continues past its qualities. Its worth ten times the price of either you or the rest of your buddies combined."

Realizing Po's occupation along with the sense of dread that usually accompanied it Rocco leaped back and pulled a blade, "So, you're a bounty hunter huh?" Po didn't move which infuriated Rocco. "You're here to nab me and take me in aren't you?" His hands started to shake around the blade's hilt.

Po's eyes trialed back down to Earth and looked at the bag with a hint of somberness, "Your sister needs this, am I right? That's the whole reason you're doing this isn't it?" Rocco sighed and dropped the knife, "You need to get out of here quickly or they're gonna kill you!"

Po's eyes narrowed in irritation as he looked over Rocco's shoulder, "I think its a bit too late for that don't you?" Rocco's stomach dropped as he turned around and saw Piccoro and his henchmen come out from the shadows surrounding them.

Rocco held up his hands in desperation, "Wait! He has the plant, just let him go please!" Piccoro sized Po up, "Your patsy here made a good delivery boy eh Rocco? He has my thanks"

Po quickly ducked and sweep kicked behind him as he felt a person there. He was correct as a mook fell to the ground.

"Get him!" Yelled Piccoro. Po dropped the plant and drop kicked another guy, Rocco stood by and watched as Po quickly and effortlessly fought the guys around him. "Hold it right where you are!" Rocco recognized the female tigress from earlier as she jumped down from a rooftop and got Po's back.

She faced Po and to his surprise jumped other him and kicked a bear in the face. "You could be a little more delicate! You could've taken my head off!" Tigress smirked at him, "You sound like a child panda!" Po grunted, "Just be careful, remember there's no reward if they're all dead."

Tigress nodded suddenly serious at the sound of the money. She dove back into the fray, Po scanned the area and looked for Rocco, he saw the red panda run over the fountain and pick up the Grey Ash Po had dropped, Rocco removed it from the bag and started to move with it, rather luckily the glass case didn't even have a crack in it.

Po watched as he nearly bumped into a thug, Rocco used his free hand to grab the guy and flip him on his back like Po had showed him earlier. Po felt a smirk come on his face, Rocco met his gaze and gave a thumbs up. Po returned the thumbs up but gasped when he saw Piccoro come up from behind.

The cat grabbed Rocco's arm and stabbed him through the chest with a small knife, Rocco dropped the Grey Ash in shock, it seemed to fall in slow motion. Its glass case smashed on the ground and almost instantly the leaves seemed to start dying.

"Rocco no!" Po yelled, the panda sprinted towards the red panda but was decked in the face by a mook.

Piccoro pushed Rocco away and desperately picked up the Grey Ash to see if it was okay. It turned to dust in his hands, the cat growled and turned on the bleeding panda who's shirt was now stained with blood, the blade may have been small but it went in deep. "You clumsy oaf!" He snarled.

Tigress got the cat in a choke hold and hissed "You've caused me enough trouble for today!" Into his ear. She cut his oxygen off and stayed that way until the cat fell unconscious. After he was out she picked him up and made her way back to the 'Bebop'.

Po finished off the guy he was fighting and ran over to Rocco, he shook Rocco lightly. "C'mon, hang in there! Rocco" The red panda looked at Po with glazed eyes. "D-did you see me master? I was fluid, like water." Po sighed and nodded, "Yeah I saw it, don't try to talk anymore, save your strength we'll have a doctor here soon."

Rocco tried to get up, "Hey!" Po yelled, he pushed the red panda back down. Rocco seemed to understand the hopelessness of his situation, "I-I have a favor to ask master. In the music box with my sister-" Po cut him off so he would stop talking, "The music box at your sister's, got it. She's going to be fine Rocco, just stay alive so she can see her big brother with her own eyes."

Rocco's eyes flickered, "Thanks." Po panicked when he saw the life start to fade out of his eyes, the panda stood up sharply, "Okay wait here, I'll get you some help" when he didn't get a response Po said "Don't die" the panda ran off without another word.

Rocco didn't even realize that Po had already left. "I wonder, if I had met you earlier in my lifetime. Do you think that we...would have been friends?"

XXXXXXX

_2 Weeks Later_

Po entered the hospital and went straight up to the room, the flowers in his hand feeling incredibly heavy. He pushed the patient's door open and stepped inside, the occupant turned around with a smile, "Rocco...is that you?" His sister asked. Po looked at her sadly and walked other to her bed, "Its me...instead."

"Hey you know what Rocco did? He got me some Grey Ash from the seedlings and the doctors say within a few days I'll be able to see again! I want the first thing I see to be Rocco"

Po's heavy silence wiped the grin off of her face, "He hasn't shown up in a few weeks and I wondered if he was with you." "He isn't" Po replied simply, "Is he...in jail?" She asked clutching at straws. "No"

"Then why hasn't he come to see me?" Instead of just telling her Po reached towards her paw and gently clutched it, he lifted it up towards his face and let her feel his expression.

"He's dead isn't he?" Po didn't say anything.

Her breath stiffened and Po saw her chest tighten, she was upset but for some reason was determined to not let this random stranger see it, her misty eyes filled with resolve and she let go of Po's face. "It's all right... leave me. I know. Rocco died because he did something bad, right? Please, leave me for today..."

Po got up hesitantly, left the flowers by her bedside and began to walk off, another chapter of his life was closing. He was getting sick of leaving these people behind while all he did was try to move forward. He had only made three and a half steps before she called out to him, "I never got to see Rocco once with my own eyes... Hey, what was Rocco really like?"

The panda decided he would leave this girl with something that he had never left with the others. Hope. "You know without looking, right? He was a great guy. Just like the one you knew..."

Po left the girl to her thoughts, his footsteps echoed around the hospital and he made his way back to the 'Bebop'

**See You Dragon Warrior**

**Teaser **

"**Starting next week Viper will be on the scene! HAHAHA!" Viper chuckled happily. **

**Po groaned, "Oh great, who are you supposed to be?"**

**Viper beamed happily "Viper will introduce Viper. Full name Viper Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV." **

**Po merely blinked "That's a long name" he replied dryly.**

**Tigress then appeared next to them, she pointed at Viper. "Who the hell is this?"**

**Viper seemed to not even notice her, "Viper made up that name for Viper isn't it great?" she said excitedly with stopping for breath,**

**Po and Tigress looked in confusion at each other, Po scratched his head. "If you made it up then how can you be the fourth one?"**

"**Next time on Dragon Warrior Blues JAMMING WITH VIPER!" Viper started to whoop with delight and slither about quickly.**

**Po face palmed, "I can tell from now on that this story is going to get more random…and does ANYBODY know who this kid is!?"**


	8. Session 8: Jamming With Viper

**The Dragon Warrior Blues**

**Session #8 Jamming With Viper  
**

"Here. Nobody here. Always alone." The idol said to itself. It had done this for as long as could be remembered, speaking to itself and...

It's eye opened up and a small red beam flew out of it, it moved into the desert wastes it called home and created a huge explosion. It didn't know why it did it, only that at this time in the day its eye would open as if on command. It was also in this brief moment that it would catch a glimpse of its surroundings and would get lost in them, the desert would appear boring to the majority of people's minds but for the idol...it showed it freedom.

As per usual the idol's eye closed and it again would wait until tomorrow when it would look forward to it again.

It didn't know it was creating symbols on the earth, signals for something great.

XXXXXXX

_Miles Away_

A green viper rested in the shade on a rock, she had been sitting here for days now waiting for a change in the winds. Her name was Viper and she could feel people's presence ever since she used to be a child.

Her eyes jolted open as she felt who she had been searching for.

"BEBOP! BEBOP!" She screeched happily, she started to slither in the direction of the bigger people she had heard so much about.

XXXXXXX

_On the 'Bebop'_

Po was laid down on the floor staring straight up into the canopy, he felt his eyes close and the lull of sleep approaching him.

"Aliens! It has to be from aliens!" Yelled Tigress sarcastically towards Ping. Po groaned and put his paws over his ears, the goose and the tiger had been arguing for the past hour about the land carvings that had been made in the local land of Emon which is where they were currently...well more specifically a forest just near the area, it was a desert and Po refused to go into somewhere 'as hot as the sun' as the panda had so eloquently put it.

A reward of 8 million Wulong had been issued to find both the source of these land carvings and a local troublemaker known as 'Radical Viper', the only information known was that 'Viper' was hard to pin down which as Po so eloquently put earlier "So the only mysterious thing about this guy is that he's mysterious?"

"That's stupid Tigress! Didn't you hear what Yuuri Kellerman said!" Replied Ping. Kellerman was an expert on the paranormal, Po rolled his eyes whenever the guy's name was brought up, both because he was sick of hearing it and because the paranormal was a subject that made Po laugh.

Be it a secret cult or the paranormal Po had no interest so he had decided to get some shut eye, now he knew how Crane felt. He hardly saw the bird anymore because of how much Crane bummed around and slept.

Po picked a part in the conversation to say "I think I'm gonna pass on this one" Ping groaned irritably, "You're going to leave me alone with _her!?_" Po nodded his head nonchalantly and laid it back down on the floor. "What's the problem? She seems pretty gung ho about the entire thing."

Ping sat back and folded his arms like a spoiled child, "I'm not really the type to be led around by a woman...especially this one." Tigress rolled her eyes, "Y'know old man its easier to divide 8 million by two then by three."

She got up and stood over Po with a smirk, "I am surprised panda, a big tough guy like is afraid of a little punk and some 'magic'." Po closed his eyes and yawned, "Magic is boring and the thought of chasing Viper is more boring."

She laughed, "This guy is probably some nerd with a bald spot, catching him will be a breeze!" Ping raised an eyebrow "Is that right? And what would you know about this anyway? It might have been easier when you were young but that was a _long _time ago."

Tigress's fur instantly bristled and a vein appeared on her forehead, "What are you trying to say Ping!? That I'm starting to get old like you!?" Ping guffawed, "Well you can't tell a woman's age by looki-" Tigress cut him off by stamping on his foot mercilessly.

Ping cried out in pain, "And you can't tell what a woman will do by looking!" Growled Tigress, she removed her foot and walked casually away, "You have to be careful Ping" she said arrogantly. Ping clenched his fists tightly, "Same with a snake!"

Po laughed at the display and sat up, "Haha, you two make a lovely couple!" Tigress hopped out of the 'Bebop'. "Hurry up old man! I'm waiting!" Ping got up quickly and walked past Po muttering, "I'm only 35 for god's sake!"

"Remember to get me a souvenir from this one" Po asked cheekily, Ping turned around with a frown "Shut up panda." He hopped off of the 'Bebop' and moodily followed Tigress.

XXXXXXXX

Viper started to writhe about on the rock like she had been sporadically doing for the past 8 hours, she was bored and waiting for the 'Bebop' to roll on by so she could join them.

She stopped suddenly when she felt the presence of people unknown she quickly moved into a crevice so she could get a better vantage point on this group of strangers.

They came into view and Viper saw that they were clearly bounty hunters due to their militarized clothing and their hard weathered looks, they were four of them and they all looked set to kill anyone who got in their way. "Radical Viper! We know you're out here! Come out with your hands up!"

Viper slithered out and waved at them with her tail, "Hi there!" she said happily. The hunters removed their weapons and started to advance on Viper quickly, seeing that she was clearly a thirteen year old made them underestimate her.

They all got about three feet from her when the floor suddenly disappeared out from under them and they fell into a large trap hole. Viper didn't see them hit the ground but she heard several yelps and a small thump from the sound of them landing on each other.

She peeked into the hole and as she predicted they were all unconscious from the height of the fall. Viper started to laugh giddily, she had spent the past couple of hours waiting for someone to come by and fall into the hole and now it had finally happened!

Viper decided to move on from here and try and find the 'Bebop'.

XXXXXXXX

Tigress and Ping came back to the 'Bebop' within a couple of hours with tons of information. Po was laid on the floor with a book over his face and Crane was stood next to him asleep, Tigress never got how that bird could sleep standing up. Ping rolled his eyes when he saw the sleeping panda and Tigress heard him mutter the words "Lazy little whelp!" They sat down and compared notes.

Tigress had bought a map in a nearby town and they marked locations on it. "This is where those strange land markings originated from according to some old guy I talked to" Tigress said circling a large plot of land about 10 miles large.

Ping sighed, "That'll take us hours to comb that entire area...even if both Po and Crane helped us." Tigress draw a small line on the south-west corner on the circle she had plotted, "If it makes it easier this is the only part of this area that's accessible." Ping nodded, "That narrows things down a lot more."

"Apparently the locals say that the whole area is haunted by some idol of a god they pray to, they're very superstitious" Tigress finished distastefully. "Okay first thing, I'll investigate some more towns nearby, maybe they'll have some information that I can get out of them. After all many people have moved here to either catch a glimpse of the supernatural or just to cash in on it."

Ping nodded again, "While you're doing that I'll see what I can find out about this 'Radical Viper' character, maybe he has a connection to this thing. Even if not his bounty is still pretty high and I saw a lot of competition from other hunters." The two left with the best laid plans.

Crane soon walked close by and saw the panda sleeping quietly, the bird assumed that the lunkhead would have gone with the snooty tiger and the often angry goose. Crane shrugged to himself and went to find something to eat.

XXXXXXXX

Viper sighed to herself, she had been searching for 'Bebop' 'Bebop' for hours now and was no closer to finding hide nor hair of it. All she had managed to find was the dense forest that she was lost in.

She slithered on in the vain hope of finding anybody.

After another hour of this she quite literally bumped into her target, she looked up in a daze and saw the words 'Bebop' sloppily painted onto the side of a vast wagon. She felt her jaw drop slightly and the size of the thing and she was almost overwhelmed by it. She listened out to see whether she could hear any signs of life within it but all she could hear was very loud snoring.

She moved around to the source of it and found the doorway inside, it had a curtain over it so she simply moved underneath it. The inside was packed to the brim with nick nacks and junk that she assumed the crew had collected over their travels. While her eyes traveled over the stuff almost protruding from the walls her eyes fell onto a large sleeping panda on a nearby sofa.

His body looked well traveled in and muscular beneath the fur but his face had a softness to it, Viper imagined that his eyes would be just as soft and pleasant to look at. She slowly and quietly moved around to see if there was anybody else about, on a nearby table which was cluttered with paper a word or two stuck out to her. She always had trouble containing her curiosity so she slithered over and peeked at their newest bounty.

A shiver ran down the snake's spine as she saw her own name. "Bebop looking for local bounty head who caused land carvings? And they're looking for Viper too?" She said to herself perhaps to loudly, Po snorted in his sleep and Viper nearly leaped out of her skin. She placed the paper back down and decided to leave quickly, getting the scary looking panda to wake up in a bad mood wasn't her idea of a good time, nor did she think the potential injuries were worth any more curiosity.

She turned to leave and stopped instantly when she saw a tall crane looking down at her with the strangest expression on his face.

**Crane's POV**

Crane's mouth gaped in utter astonishment. The snake that lay in front of him was _gorgeous_, beautiful beyond words! The goggles she wore over her eyes and the tattoos that ran along her smooth green body made her look exotic and different, the small flowers on her head completed her look. He couldn't take his eyes off of her and he wished on all that was sacred to him that he could speak at that moment.

**Viper's POV**

Viper scratched her head with her tail, this bird was starting to creep her out a bit. "Are you OK mister?" She asked innocently. The bird shook his head and slapped himself in the fact with his wing, he knocked his hat onto the floor by accident and blushed at his mistake. She giggled to herself when he bent over to grab his hat and pulled it over his fiercely blushing face.

"So what's your name?" She asked softly, the bird opened his mouth and then shut it almost immediately. Viper tilted her head in confusion, "Don't you wanna tell me? I can keep a secret if you're embarrassed by it." He shook his head and pointed at his throat, Viper didn't understand. "Is it Liu Kang? What about Peng? Or Hun Dun? No, those are stupid names" She finished dismissively.

The panda started to stir so she quickly waved goodbye to the bird and left quickly not wanting to be captured by them.

**Crane's POV**

Crane watched the snake leave the 'Bebop' quickly, he sighed heavily and immediately started to miss the pretty snake.

XXXXXXXX

Tigress climbed up onto a rock and looked at her surroundings. There was nothing for miles, nothing but sand and more rocks. She pulled out a map, "Now let's see where the origin of those markings have been narrowed down to."

She had made some inquiries and managed to create a map from what they had told her, she had decided to get a better vantage point before checking the map. Looking at it now however revealed that the area was approximately 2 miles. Tigress growled and threw the map to the wind.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SEARCH THIS ENTIRE AREA BY MYSELF!"

XXXXXXXX

Ping walked into the market and looked around for some shady, knowledgeable people to hustle. Just in his peripheral vision was a young otter sitting in a huge cloud of funny smelling smoke.

Ping walked over and snatched the joint out of his hand, he threw it on the ground and crushed it under-foot. The otter blinked dumbly as if not registering what the goose had done, it dawned on him however and he sat up slowly. "Hey! What the hell bro!?" Ping grabbed him by the scruff of his thin shirt and dragged him into the shadows out of the public eye.

"Tell me everything you know about 'Radical Viper'" Ping snarled, the otter crawled back. "Ok ok! He's supposed to be some 7-foot tall dude who used to be this kung fu legend."

XXXXXXXX

"Of course I know about Viper, they call him 'Radical Viper' A genius with a beautiful yet whimsical technique."

XXXXXXXX

"No! No! Viper's only three years old! She's a freak of nature who loves playing horrible pranks on people."

XXXXXXXX

"Irene told me all about Viper, he's supposed to be one of them drag queens, y'know? That come out at night."

XXXXXXXX

"A genius and troublemaker? You must mean 'Radical Viper', she's an alien, at least that's what I heard."

Ping sighed and leaned up against the wall, "Hey mister." the goose's eyes snapped open and looked at the little boy who had just answered him. He held up one of the boxes he was carrying, he was clearly selling something. "How about buying something since I gave you that info?"

Ping frowned, "Oh that's what it was?" He sighed again when looking at the kid's hurt face. "What are they?" He asked pointing to the box on the top, on the top was a picture of a small egg with a chick coming out of it. "You don't know? They're Pyokos, they're a delicacy here in this town." Ping crossed his arms when he realized the sad face was just a guilt trip to hear the kid's sales pitch.

XXXXXXXX

Viper decided to find the bounty for 'Bebop' so they would accept her. She found a quiet spot and attempted to use her mild ESP to find out where he could be, the snake admitted that it was a long shot but it was better then nothing. She felt around the area for any negative thoughts but was almost overwhelmed by them, obviously the result of being near a town full of criminals and scum.

However at the edge of her mind's eye she could feel a strange thought pattern.

"Here. Nobody here. Always alone." Viper shivered at its cold tone, "Huh? Who are you?" She could feel it trying to reply, "Wait, what did you say?" she thought back. "Who. You. Here. Always." It replied in a stuttering metallic tone. "My names Viper and I'm a drifter." There was a small pause before "Drifter?" The voice came back.

Viper nodded though it wouldn't be seen, "That's right, who are you anyway?"

"Name? I was designed for the destruction of my master's enemies, he did not require me to have a name thus I do not have one." Viper could almost feel some resentment in the statement, as if he had some negative feelings towards the master he referred to. "You're too stuffy." She replied cheerfully, "I know! Viper can give you one right now!" She thought for a second before coming up with. "How about Empew?"

Viper thought she had lost Empew for a second because he didn't reply, but then "Why? Why this particular name Viper?" Viper shrugged, "It just suits you Empew."

"My name is Viper Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV. I made it up you know, nice to meet you!"

XXXXXXXX

"Here" Ping said putting one of the Pyokos he had gotten down on the table in front of Po, "A souvenir like you requested" he finished sourly. Po picked it up and started to inspect it, "Are you supposed to eat this thing?" Inside the box Ping had been forced to buy were small brown objects, as Po had just demonstrated for them it was hard to determine their purpose. Crane was stood next to Po inspecting it to, though he wasn't as intensely fixed on it as a certain earlier intruder was still on his mind.

Tigress shrugged and leaned up against the wall, "Who knows, this place is weird." Ping sat down opposite Po, "Yeah that may be, but at least I got some information out of them." He pulled out the piece of paper he had used to jot down notes for the past couple of hours. "It turns out we need to go after Viper first as he might be more heavily connected to this then previously thought, he's a very heavy hitter apparently." Tigress adopted 'the dismissive frown', called such because she always used it to disregard the guy's ideas.

"That's great and all old man but you didn't even get a profile on this guy so we're back at square one." Crane opened his mouth suddenly and snatched the weird object out of Po's paw, he chewed a few times and swallowed. It went down fine apparently because he walked over to the box, opened it up and started to help himself. Po smirked, "At least Crane likes them." Tigress watched him eat them, "We still don't know what these things are."

Ping ignored the three of them, "If you'd let me finish grandma, yes I did actually." Po and Tigress listened with interest, Ping leaned forward dramatically. "'Radical Viper's profile: he's a seven foot ex basketball pro, hindu, guru, drag queen, alien!"

XXXXXXXX

"So, are you the one making all those big doodles in the ground" Viper asked bluntly. "Yes" Empew replied. "Why?"

"Long, long ago before the 'Great Disaster' Emon was a beautiful place where people lived in the hills and valleys, and by the lakes, rivers and seas. Back then, there were many ancient carvings like this, I used to look down upon them and ponder aloud their meanings which seemed to change every single time I looked upon them. So to keep those memories fresh in my mind I have tried to recreate them in as much detail as I can remember them."

"So you just created them because you were sad and you missed them?"

"Yes, I recreated them with a great power that was given to me by my master before he died and-" Viper cut Empew off, "Can Viper draw something too?" Suddenly the signal began to get weak and flashes of static appeared over the once clean link. "What's wrong?" asked Viper, before she got a reply he disappeared from her mind's eye and he had apparently disappeared from the area.

XXXXXXXXX

Ping rubbed his temples in irritation at the lack of any new leads for finding Viper. He looked over at Tigress who was reading over their notes again just on the off chance that they missed something, Crane was trying to eat the box the Pyokos came in as he apparently now had a serious addiction to them. "Oh Po that reminds me." The panda drew his amused face away from watching Crane eating cardboard.

"Yeah?"

"Apparently the cops are looking for Viper too, its weird how they chose this particular target to go after when they usually just let us bounty hunter scum deal with them."

"Hey guys! Found your bounty head" came a soft voice from outside. Everyone's heads shot up immediately, "What the hell?" said Ping. "Bebop! Bebop! I know you can hear me in there" Everyone rushed outside where a small green viper wearing goggles with red lenses was sitting.

"Guess what? I know who's making those markings in the ground!" She said cheerfully, Po tapped Ping on the shoulder. "Ping, since when does information just get given to us this easily by a child?" Ping shook his bald head, "It doesn't."

Tigress jabbed her paw into the snake's face, "Who is this kid?" Po looked over at Crane who was wearing an odd expression, "Yo bird brain! What's the matter with you?" Crane ignored him. "Oh he was like that earlier for some reason" said Viper. Ping blanched, "You've been in my wagon!" She nodded with a huge grin on her face.

"I can take you to Empew if you want that reward."

"What's Empew?" Asked Tigress.

"A friend of Vipers"

"Wait wait hold on!" Interrupted Po, "Are you saying you _know _Viper." The snake nodded and removed her goggles, "Yeah, because Viper _is _Viper."

Tigress scowled at her, "Don't play games with us kid! Just take us to this Empew person." Viper frowned in thought, "Well...I don't see why not, but if I do then I want a favor in return."

Tigress nodded slowly "Yeah we...can talk about that later, about you've taken us where we need to go."

XXXXXXXXXX

They all moved into the 'Bebop' to talk about their plan, Viper told them everything she knew about Empew from this conversation.

"So a lone idol in the middle of nowhere decides to create carvings in the earth?" Said Ping out loud after Viper had finished telling them everything. Tigress rubbed her chin in thought, "This _does _sound pretty bizarre."

Ping placed a finger on a map, "It gets more bizarre, I've heard of this place that the kid described, its a dangerous place that is rumored to be haunted by an evil spirit. Now knowing what it is in retrospective it seems obvious why people wouldn't check there."

"Then the bounty isn't on a _person_, it's on an object" Tigress said.

Viper nodded, "Because the beams are being shot from Empew itself you'll have to go there and manually destroy it yourself." Ping snorted, "And how do we do that? You've seen what it can do to the very ground we walk on so I'd rather save myself then risk getting turned into another land drawing." Viper grabbed a pen and paper and drew a very crude drawing of what she could remember of Empew's image.

She circled a spot on the head of the idol and then turned the paper around so they could all see it. "You'll just have to break this point on the statue." Viper said while pointing with the pen.

Ping, Po and Tigress fell into silence. Viper smirked cockily, "Wait, is this too hard for you?" Ping shook his head, "I wouldn't call it hard so much as impossible for just three of us!"

Without saying anything Po stood up and walked towards the exit of the 'Bebop'. "Where are you going Po?" Asked the goose. Po turned around with a massive grin, "Now _this _is the kind of stuff I like doing, let's get to it then."

XXXXXXXXX

Ping got the 'Bebop' moving to the location Viper had told them about, it turns out they were much closer then they originally thought so they would be there within ten minutes at full speed.

"Wait a minute, how do you know so much about us kid?" Asked Tigress suspiciously, "Have you been spying on us?" Viper smiled proudly "Viper knows everything, last week you were chasing down Piccoro, you got the one million reward but you went to a casino and lost it all." Po looked over at Tigress, "That's funny Tigress, you said you were ambushed by his guys on the way to police station and you lost the money."

Tigress chuckled nervously, "Why would I lie to you?" Po frowned, "Do you want the list of reasons or should I do it in a musical number?"

"And before that the police beat you to that bounty."

"Wow jeez! You really are 'Radical Viper', the one they talk about!" Admonished Tigress. Viper nodded and smiled again at her reputation, "Uh-huh, what have you heard about me?"

Po yawned and put his arms behind his head, "That you're a male seven foot ex basketball pro, hindu, guru, drag queen, alien."

Ping's voice came from the front, "We're here, at the point on the map that Viper marked for us."

XXXXXXXX

Po, Ping, Tigress and Viper walked towards the mountain where the idol was supposed to be. Before that however Ping and Po moved away from the ladies so they could go over the plan one more time.

"Ok Po here's your stuff" said Ping handing him an assortment of knives ans short swords.

When Po had nearly finished setting his gear up Ping spoke "Be careful not to lose or break any of this stuff, remember its expensive." Po chuckled, "Yeah right" He scoffed. When he had finished Po started to walk up towards the cave mouth leaving Ping alone.

Before he left Ping called out to Po, "Po!" The panda turned around, "Remember, you've only got one shot at this before he kills you more quickly then you'll have time to think. So don't screw up!" Po smirked at him, "One chance is all I need" he said cockily.

The goose turned around and walked back down to Tigress and Viper.

XXXXXXX

"So you can give us the proof that this...'Empew' worked completely by itself, with no outside interference from some bounty heads?" Asked Tigress. Viper nodded, "Viper can prove it no problem, but remember that Viper wants a favor in return. If you do it then I won't take any of the reward." Viper obviously knew this was how to get to Tigress's good side and like clockwork the wulongs seemed to appear in her eyes.

"Oh! Well now aren't you a nice kid!"

Ping walked back down to them and ran his hand over his head when he reached them. "Tigress should go in as a decoy to cover Po" Viper said happily. Tigress's happiness washed away like a wave and was replaced by a scowl that could melt steel, "I'm not risking my neck to save that panda!" Ping pondered for a moment. "Actually that does make a bit of sense, that would give us more of a chance of a positive outcome if Po had a decoy." Tigress pointed at Ping angrily, "Don't start pulling that 'Art of War' crap on me!"

Ping frowned at her, "Let me put it this way, if you don't then your share of the reward goes to us and you can go it alone from now alone, have you got that _kitten_" he finished with a hiss. Tigress held his gaze for a second before conceding defeat and then literally following in Po's footsteps.

XXXXXXXX

Po started to whistle a tune to combat the silence in the air, when he reached the entrance he almost felt engulfed by its sheer size, Po couldn't see anything on the inside at all so he knew that this was going to be a pain. The panda tensed when he heard soft footsteps from behind him, he prepared himself, turned away and struck an intimidating pose.

Po relaxed when he saw Tigress staring at him with a raised eyebrow, "You look ridiculous panda" she said sourly. Po quickly figured out that Ping had sent her, but decided to mess around for a bit. "Ahhh Tigress, if you;re that worried about me then why don't you go in first draw its fire and while you're being killed I'll sneak in and quickly finish it off?"

Po fully expected Tigress to back off but to his surprise she walked past him and whispered "Okay then" into his ear. Before she walked in he grabbed her by the arm, "I was kidding, you don't have to help me I can do this by myself." Tigress chuckled, "Well then this'll go much faster with two of us then won't it panda?"

Po smiled at her softly.

Tigress felt her heart skip a little, she had never seen Po give a look so soft before. She didn't like it.

Wordlessly the two walked in to face 'Empew'

XXXXXXXX

In retrospect it was good that Tigress came along as Po couldn't see a thing as he predicted. To Tigress's amusement she spent the entire cave walk telling Po wrong directions so he walked into walls and tripped, after five minutes of this she got serious and helped Po to their destination.

"So those pretty amber eyes aren't just for show then Tigress?"

"...No."

They spent the rest of the walk in silence.

XXXXXXXX

Po's eyes slowly started to adjust to the dark...at least that's what he thought but it was in fact a glowing red aura that was illuminating the way. They both stopped.

"It that it?" Whispered Tigress, her voice echoed slightly off of the walls. Po nodded slowly, "I think so."

"Ok Tigress, you make some noise and distract it, I'll find the part Viper told us about and hit it." Tigress frowned, "And how are you going to do that? You can't see in here?"

Po shrugged "Whatever happens, happens."

Tigress gulped and proceeded froward. "Hey rocky! Uhhhh...you suck!" Po rolled his eyes at her lame attempt at smack talk. A spot in the darkness glowed brightly before what looked like a beam of light exploded out of the darkness. Tigress yelped and fell to the ground, she felt the heat coming off of it as it streaked above her.

In the instant the cave was engulfed with light Po saw their target, it looked a lot smaller then he was expecting but he also managed to glimpse a red glowing spot on the top of it. Po got his game face on and charged in.

Tigress saw the panda run past her so she got up and threw insults towards the idol to keep its fixation on her. "Awwww is the only friend you can get an eccentric snake kid! I feel sorry for you...idiot!" 'Empew' wordlessly fired at her again which she barely dodged.

Meanwhile Po climbed up onto it and withdrew a short sword from his hip. He raised it above his head, "Say goodnight rocky" he murmured. He plunged the sword into it and as correctly predicted by Viper it shut 'Empew' down.

Po jumped down off of it and walked over towards Tigress, he held a paw out to her which she took and lifted herself up. There was a moment of silence between the two of them before Tigress broke it, "Well that was anti-climatic."

Po nodded then started to walk out, Tigress followed him and two of them walked outside. "There's something I still don't get with this thing. What was with all the animal drawings and that other junk?" Po thought for a second before replying.

"That's easy. It was lonely so it drew some friends."

XXXXXXXX

"Ok wait here a second while I get my things, I left them nearby, you promised" Viper said happily. She quickly slithered off.

"Wait what?" asked Ping after her. When Tigress saw that Viper had gone she ran over to Ping quickly. "Let's go Ping c'mon quickly while she's gone!"

"Viper said something about a promise?" He replied in confusion.

Tigress shrugged "Some promises were made to be broken, in fact most of them are so let's go!"

Ping sighed, "Ok then."

The 'Bebop' started to move but before too long Ping noticed that something was wrong, "SOMETHINGS WRONG WITH THE STEERING!" He yelled in pure panic. Po, Tigress and Crane started to panic in the back.

Ping thought they would be alright if they hit something soon, any hopes he had diminished when he saw a ditch in front of them. "BRACE YOURSELF!" He yelled out.

XXXXXXXX

Po roughly pushed Ping off of him, "Just what did you promise the kid Tigress?!" He growled irritably. Viper's head poked into the now upside down 'Bebop' and grinned at them, "She promised Viper that Viper could become a real member of 'Bebop'!"

"When did I say that!" She replied irritably.

XXXXXXXX

_Due to the term 'bounty' contextually meaning someone who is alive 'Big Shot' will not be paying out to the folks who caught that troublemaker who was causing those crop circles._

"AH DAMN IT!" Yelled Tigress, she threw the copy of 'Big Shot' she was reading across the 'Bebop' and folded her arms irritably, anyone caught in front of her would have melted under her burning gaze. She was sat on the ground with Crane next to her and Viper chasing her own tail nearby.

Ping was trying to fix the wheel that Viper had broken on their wagon and Po was leaning next to him. "Ping, do you know that there are three things that I absolutely despise?" Ping sighed because of their bounty result, "Really?" He replied sarcastically.

Po looked over at Crane, "Birds", then to Viper. "Kids", and then finally at Tigress, "And women with attitudes."

He pulled Ping out from under the 'Bebop' "So can you please tell me, WHY ALL THREE ARE NOW COMING WITH US!?" He yelled in the goose's face.

Viper slithered up onto Po's arm, "Viper loves noodles" Po raised an eyebrow, "What?" The snake suddenly pulled out his noodles and started to eat them. Po's jaw dropped, "You little brat!" He fumed, Viper squealed happily and ran away with Po quickly in pursuit.

Ping sighed again, "Once again we get no bounty, not a single wulong" He heard a crash and looked over at Po falling over the now livid Tigress, "Like mom always used to say, nothing good ever comes from being a bounty hunter."

As a fight between Po and Tigress started with Viper laughing and Crane watching in amusement Ping shook his head and went back to work on the 'Bebop'

**See You Dragon Warrior**

**Teaser**

**Tigress purred. "No regrets about the woman who ran away, but, a small thorn still pricks the heart. Letting one flow along with time itself. Living all alone from that day to this, but to the sounds of waves that come and go, the migrating birds find their hearts drawn. Next session is Ganymede Elegy, Ping's gonna sing this one up with soul.**

**End Teaser**

**Now the whole crew is here! I hope you enjoyed this, I had to change a lot of the original story so it would fit contextually within this story's setting.**

**Please review it if you liked it. This story is really underwhelming is terms of the number of reviews it gets, I'm not demanding reviews but I want to know if people are enjoying the story, its hard to know if you're silent.**


	9. Session 9: Ganymede Elegy

****The Dragon Warrior Blues****

****This was an easy one to do. This is also one of my favorite episodes of the anime too so it was a blast to adapt. It's easily my shortest session yet but I feel I got this as right as I could of, I think I got the emotion spot on with this one and the hollowness the episode has is I feel captured really well here.****

****Sessions #9 Ganymede Elegy****

Baker should have gotten a good education like his mamma always told he had he would never have got involved in drugs, if he had he would never have killed his dealer for hustling him. If he had then this humiliation would never have happened.

He was tied up in a wagon belonging to a bounty hunter crew, they were delivering him to a nearby police station to claim their reward but that wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was the people they had left to guard him.

A big bird with a straw hat was staring at him relentlessly, it had been doing this for the past hour and was now really starting to tick Baker off. "What do you want you freak!? Stop staring at me!" Saliva flew out of his mouth from the force of shouting.

It ignored him however and continued to stare at him.

Baker readied himself for another yell but felt a shiver ride up him spine...at least that's what he thought it was, he heard a giggle and started to freak out when a small snake slithered out of his shirt and onto the floor.

"What the hell are you?" He snarled. The snake ignored him like the bird and started to move around Baker as if sizing him up. The bird watched the snake assess him for a bit before suddenly wriggling up Baker's leg, up his neck and then suddenly bit him on the ear.

He roared out in pain and shook his head desperately trying to rid himself of the reptile, he didn't see but the bird shook his head and did a face-palm at his comrade's weirdness.

XXXXXXXX

Ping was up front steering the 'Bebop' with one hand, in the other was a pocket watch he had been staring at for the past five minutes.

_3 Years Ago_

_Ping stood in the open doorway of his apartment, rain splattered behind him coating the windows with moisture. On the table in front of him was a pocket watch that was sitting on top of a letter. _

_It must have been left by her._

"Hey Ping" Po said snapping Ping out of his daydream. "Huh?" The goose mumbled back.

"I said how much longer until we stop this damn thing" Po replied referring to the 'Bebop'. Ping put the watch back into his pocket which didn't go unnoticed by the panda, "How long were you standing there? I didn't hear you come in" asked Ping.

"I've been here for a while" he replied with a smirk.

"Oh, I see"

"What's he spacing out about?" Asked Tigress, "Let's park this tub somewhere so we can go and hand over that pathetic bounty head already. I want my reward in nice crisp bills you know what I'm saying?"

Po stuck his head out the window. they weren't in an area that he recognized. "Woah Ping, do you even know where we're going?"

Ping frowned, "Of course I do. I swear you two can be so obnoxious. You can't rush genius my friends. We're going to Ganymede because that's where we were told to drop Baker, I know the way and I know for a fact that we're nearly there so shut up both of you."

Tigress smirked, "Ganymede's your home town right? You weren't thinking of some sweet thing from your past were you? Someone who maybe cried over you?" Ping cleared his throat uncomfortably and dodged the question.

"Or maybe, it was someone who made _you _cry."

Ping clenched his fist, "Didn't I just say you were obnoxious!"

XXXXXXXX

Unlike many other cities in China Ganymede had a firm security team that checked who came in and out through the town, this was done via a toll booth system where you'd go up to the booth, explain who you are and your business and you were quickly assessed on whether you were wanted there. For many people this seemed strange as Ganymede was a simple fishing down that was mostly built around a dock area.

It wasn't without its problems however as it was well known that this was where loan sharks and some small time mobsters liked to make business.

Ping, Po and Tigress spent the rest of the trip in silence...besides the noises made by Baker due to Crane and Viper's assistance.

As they reached the booth Ping hopped out of the 'Bebop' and made the rest of the trip on foot followed by Po and Tigress.

"Hello, this is Ganymede Police regarding your..." The old looking Dhole stopped talking when he saw Ping. The goose gained a wide grin, "Donnely!" He yelled happily. "Oh man Ping! I can't believe you're back!"

Donnely exited the booth and walked around to see his friend, he held his hand out and Ping shook it. "Yeah its you, the top of your head is looking a little bit sparse but apart from that same old dog." Ping rubbed his head self-consciously, "Yeah yeah, long time no see bud."

"I haven't seen you in what, seven maybe eight years. What's up with the sudden homecoming? You here for work or just getting into trouble like the old days?"

"I have a bounty to hand over to you boys." Po handed him the paperwork. "Verification number EX41825. Baker Poncherero."

Donnely took the paperwork off of Ping and read it over, "So you're a bounty hunter? Never thought I'd hear that from the guy they called 'The Black Dog', once you got your teeth into something you never let go of it."

Ping smiled at his old nickname. "I figured you'd be retired by now, you were a vet even when I first started."

Donnely gave a light hearted scowl, "No way! I'm still on active duty, hell I'm busier then ever so don't judge time on your scale you bald bastard!" They both shared a hearty laugh.

Tigress whispered to Po, "So he used to be a cop huh. That explains it"

"What's that?" He replied.

"Why we can't get along for five minutes."

Donnely scratched his head for a second, "Now lemme think, what was her name? Y'know...yeah that's it Elise!" Ping's smile faded quickly and he coughed uncomfortably.

The dhole ignored this and carried on. "Yeah she's got a little joint down at 'Marvis'. You remember? Down at the old port. The bar's called La Fin, since the recession I hear she's got a lot of debts to pay off, I'm sure its not easy for a women living alone and trying to keep up while trying to keep her body and soul together. You know how it is."

Ping nodded slowly. He turned to Po and Tigress, "You deal with the bounty head I've...got something to take care of." Donnely, Po and Tigress watched Ping walk into Ganymede wordlessly.

XXXXXXXX

Po and Tigress walked out of the station having just deposited their catch. Baker was more then grateful at being in prison after having to deal with Viper and Crane for the past couple of hours.

Tigress snorted, "Sense of justice and duty huh?."

Po looked at her with an unreadable expression, "Its the first time he's home in years, of course he's going to go see her."

He started to walk away but Tigress grabbed his arm, "Y'know he's kidding himself if he thinks his old girlfriend is still carrying a torch for him."

Po grabbed her hand and took it off of him, "And you're kidding yourself if you think every woman in the world is like you" Po started to walk away again, "Their not y'know" he finished.

Tigress shrugged,"You men are such hopeless romantics"

She didn't see it but Po had a small smile on his face.

XXXXXXX

Ping walked through the small fishing town looking at how everything had changed. Buildings that once gleamed now had moss covering their walls and on his way to find Elise the goose saw many people lying in the streets shivering and hungry. He ignored them however, he wasn't there to help anybody...and he couldn't even if he wanted to.

He reached La Fin rather quickly, for him it was a bit too quickly as he still hadn't worked out what he was going to say. Ping looked down and saw that the sign to the bar was on the ground with a massive gash through it, he frowned when he thought of Elise being muscled by some guy. He smiled to himself as he found himself getting angry with that image, he was getting emotional and that would only make this more awkward.

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

XXXXXXXX

Ping didn't expect the place to be full. His eyes scanned the joint and only one person was sitting at the bar, there wasn't anybody behind it. The guy at the bar was a leopard who was scowling into his glass of dark brown liquid, being a drinker Ping recognized it as whiskey. He was wearing a distinctive yellow coat, the rest of his figure was behind the bar.

"Excuse me." The leopard looked up at him as if just noticing he was there. "This is 'La Fin' right?"

"Yeah" the leopard folded his arms and pulled them towards himself, "Who are you?" He asked icily. Ping bit his lip. If he didn't know any better he would have guessed the leopard was waiting for someone else to come in instead of him.

Ping smiled at him to put him more at ease, "I'm a friend of Elise's, I...haven't been around here in while." Ping sighed internally. _"Nice one old man. I made it sound as if I'd just thought of that before he asked, now I'll look more suspicious. Thinking about Elise is making me do mistakes reserved for rookies." _

The leopard put his hand inside his coat, Ping tensed himself for a fight. "Elise is...gone" he said softly.

"Ping?" Came a familiar voice. Said goose whirled around and saw Elise poking her head from in between a curtain, Ping could now see that the curtain had been covering a door which she had obviously been standing on the other side of.

She pushed the curtain aside and walked out to greet him. "Is it really you?" The leopard stood up and scowled at Ping which went unnoticed as he couldn't take his eyes off of Elise.

She turned a firm but soft glance over to the yellow coated leopard. "Rhint, he is my guest. You don't need to worry, it'll be alright."Rhint took his paw out from jacket and skulked off into the door that Elise had just come out of. There was the sound of his footsteps and then the slamming of a distant door.

Elise walked behind the bar, "So then..." she started. "Are you sure you don't mind?" Ping blurted out. "No" she reached under the bar and produced two shot glasses and a bottle of some dark looking liquid, "So how about it?" She said with a soft smile.

XXXXXXXX

Elise poured the alcohol into the glass with a forlorn look. "You're my last customer" she said simply inviting Ping into a conversation.

"I'm closing shop" she explained. "The chips don't come in like they used to and the whole area is just getting run down. I'm thinking about moving to another town somewhere." Ping grabbed the glass and stared into it.

"Do you get in over your head?" He asked bluntly, "Business mortgages can be high and no banker in the world will ever be understanding. It must be hard for you to manage."

She giggled, "Its so like you to worry about stuff like that." The smile receded slightly, "No, I'll work it all out once I'm resettled. Don't worry, I'm here with Rhint, its going to be all okay."

Ping nodded and took a swig of his drink, he felt the taste of bitterness but considered the option that it wasn't from the drink. "You mean that guy that was here?" He tried to not let the emotion creep into his voice. Elise didn't hear it fortunately, "Yeah, why?"

Ping smiled, "You know why."

Elise frowned, "You must have heard that we're married. We have three children." Ping's beak opened in shock and he tried to hide the sickening feeling that was rising in his stomach.

She looked at his expression and burst out laughing, "I was just joking. Rhint is my boyfriend." There was an awkward pause for a second, "What about you? You must be married" she replied. Ping shook his head "No just wandering around with some weirdos" he smiled when he said it however betraying the illusion of indifference.

"And on top of that I'm a bounty hunter now." Ping reached into his pocket and while he was doing that Elise's whole expressions changed to worry when she had heard his new chosen profession.

Ping placed the watch onto the bar and moved his hand off of it so that Elise could see what it was. She looked with a blank expression at it though Ping could see that she was trying to divorce herself emotionally from the situation. "You remember?" He asked trying not to make it sound like an accusation, like he was almost daring her to say "No."

XXXXXXXX

Po walked down the streets with his hands in his pockets minding his own business. He would give Ping all the time he needed to resolve his past, god knows his own past had interfered with his comrades enough already **(Sessions #5)**.

The panda felt a tap on the shoulder,, he turned around and saw the dhole from earlier. "Hey, your...David right?" asked Po, the dhole raised an eyebrow in a show of annoyance "I'm Donnely, how don't you remember that? It was only about half an hour ago that we met." Po shrugged indifferently.

"Whatever, you're Ping's bounty hunter partner right?" Po nodded, "Well do you know where he is?" Po shook his head, "I don't know but he's on some personal business." The dhole took a roll of parchment out from his uniform and handed it over to Po, "I have some information on a new bounty if you wanted to take it."

Po took it from him and opened it up, "This one hasn't gone public yet, so you'll have a head start over everyone else." Po's eyes scanned the information.

**Name: Rhint Celonias**

**Age: 27**

**Species: Leopard**

**Crime: Murder in the First Degree**

"He had a run-in with a money guy named Lawn Rentsueo, another lowlife scam artist and now Lawn is dead." Po closed the folder and looked questioningly at him, "Yeah and?"

"Rhint is Elise's main squeeze, I just you guys would want to know."

_"Man..."_ Po thought, he thought for a second.

"So, what's the bounty on this guy?"

XXXXXXXXX

Elise held the watch in her hand, it rested delicately there like a raindrop on a leaf. "Back then, when I got home from work, you were always there waiting for me, and that was all I needed. Just you." Ping took a long swig of his drink and waited for a reply.

"But _that _day, when I came home after work and walked through the pouring rain. The only thing there for me was an empty house, that pocket watch...and a small note with one word written on it."

"Farewell."

"For some reason, I didn't feel sad or broken up, it just didn't seem real like I was living someone else's life for a minute. But slowly I realized that it was real and that this was actually happening to me, that you were gone. Then little by little I felt a huge part of me just go numb."

Ping took a deep breath and kept his stare down into his glass while he continued.

"After six months I made a kind of bet with myself, a pledge. That I would leave this town, my job and my old life completely if you hadn't returned by the time that the watch had stopped." Ping finished his drink and placed it back onto the bar.

"I didn't come here to blame you I just...I just wanted to know why, why you just disappeared like that."

Elise finally replied. "The way you talk about it, you seem to think that time really has stopped here, that's a story from long ago...and I've already forgotten about it, time never stands still." She placed the watch in front of Ping.

"I've got to go."

XXXXXXX

Rhint stared out into the bay thinking about the night he killed that loan shark, it still gave him the shivers. He had never taken a life before then and the feeling of the knife going into the guys rib cage and the blood exploding onto his jacket was something he would never forget.

He shivered again and pulled his jacket tighter around him, it didn't help that the then blood stained jacket is the same one he was wearing currently.

He heard footsteps and turned around quickly expecting a fight. Instead he saw that goose from before walking out of La Fin, he watched him walk for a bit before the goose turned and looked straight at him with an unreadable expression. Rhint tried to show no fear but the goose just wouldn't look away.

After what felt like an eternity he turned his stare away and carried on walking to his destination.

XXXXXXX

"He's...a bounty hunter!?" Rhint asked letting the panic creep into his voice. Elise touched his shoulder gently trying to calm him down. He put his head into his hands and shivered, "He's after me, I know it!" he slipped off of the bar stool he had been sitting on and starting to cry, "It's all over!" He wailed.

Elise knelt next to him and hugged him, "It's not your fault" she whispered soothingly, "It's because I borrowed money from that crook." Her heart hammered against her rib cage as she thought about the trouble she had brought on the two of them, a salty tear fell onto Rhint's head.

"I should have never gotten you mixed up in this" she said sorrowfully.

"If I get caught, then nothing can save me. Nothing, I killed him" Rhint said dispassionately.

Elise was quiet for a second.

"Let's go" she said determinedly, Rhint looked up at her. "Let's just run away now and leave this place behind."

XXXXXXXX

Po ran across the rooftops on Ganymede looking for Rhint, running around an old fishing village was starting to get boring and Po had almost giving up before he saw Rhint and who he presumed to be Ping's old girlfriend running alongside him by a dock. The scene of a couple running from a bounty seemed like deja vu to him **(Session #1).**

He smirked to himself, "Well, it looks like all my good karma is paying off" he quipped to himself before descending to ground level in front of them. They gasped in shock at a muscular panda appearing as if from nowhere.

"Sorry but this business" Po said flashing another smile, he dropped it quickly when he saw how scared Elise seemed to be though not for her own safety in seemed. Po sighed, "Look, I don't want this to get ugly, if you surrender I promise I won't hurt you and see that you're taken fairly to be exchanged for my salary."

Rhint grit his teeth, "Are you a bounty hunter come to get me?" Po nodded slowly. Rhint pulled out a knife and pointed it at Po with shaking hands, "I killed a man" Rhint said shakily, "Don't make me kill you too."

Po looked at the blade and then took a step forward, "That would be tremendously ambitious of you." He replied with a sneer, "if you want a fight, I just want you to remember I gave you a chance to surrender and it's still available if you point that thing away from me in the next ten seconds."

The air was heavy with tension for the next couple of seconds, until...

"What are you doing panda?" said Ping from behind him Elise smiled when she saw him, convinced he was here to help them out. Po sighed internally, things had now gotten more complicated. "I'm getting a bounty head. Ping go away he's mine."

Ping stepped next to him, he tried to avoid Elise's gaze for the minute, instead concentrating on his partner. "What did he do?" Po frowned, "I told you to go away, this doesn't concern you. He killed a loan shark, Donnely told me the whole story." Ping's beak hung open in shock for a second before he closed it and clenched his fist.

"Po, go back to the Bebop, I'll handle this." Po tore his gaze away from his target and looked at his partner, the goose gazed at him with an unreadable expression which Po recognized from having felt it himself. Because of this nostalgia he sighed and began to walk away, he took a few steps before stopping. "You're not going to let him get away are you?"

"This used to be my beat, I'm like a black dog, when I get my teeth into something I never let go. I have no regrets about her but this is something I need to handle." This seemed to satisfy Po who smirked and replied with "Justice and Duty ha, I'll see you back at the 'Bebop' with the money."

Po left and only the love triangle was left, Elise's smile dropped when she saw Ping's determined expression. "Ping...STAY BACK!" She yelled. Ping started to walk towards them menacingly, Rhint started shaking badly and fell to his knees, Elise grabbed the knife he had been wielding and pointed it at her former lover.

"Please Ping stay back" she said a little less forcefully that time. The goose ignored the pitiful sight of the scared leopard and his love. Elise's hand started to shake, "There are other bounties, you don't need this one." Ping actually replied, "If I let him go now, someone else will be after him tomorrow and then you'll be an accomplice, there won't be a guarantee either that you won't be hurt."

He got within 10 feet of her, "You still have time Eli-" "STOP PROTECTING ME!" Ping stopped in shock, "That's how you always were back then. You decided everything. In the end you were always right. When I was with you I never had to do _anything _by myself. When I was with you all I had to do was hang onto your arm like a child without a care in the world."

She started to cry and dropped the knife onto the ground, "I wanted to live my own life. Make my own decisions. Even if they were terrible mistakes." Rhint got to his knees while Ping was distracted and tried to make a break for it, the goose reacted instantly and tackled him to the ground.

"NO PLEASE STOP! JUST LET ME GO! I DON'T WANT TO GO TO PRISON JUST ME BE WITH ELISE PLEASE!" Ping looked at him coldly and then punched him in the face, flooring him and silencing him.

Rhint once again looked a pitiful sight looking up at Ping through tear stained eyes and the form of a bruise starting to show from Ping's strike. "You'll survive this. Be strong, and take good care of her."

XXXXXXXX

Donnely grabbed Rhint and escorted him to the station, before leaving the leopard threw a last desperate look at Elise who was standing next to Ping worrying about Rhint. "Donnely said he may be able to get off with a self-defense plea" he said to reassure her.

"So what are you going to do now?" He asked her. "Well we won't be on the run" she said coldly staring at the place where Rhint had been a second ago. "I'll just wait there at my tavern for Rhint." Ping smiled, "I don't think you'll be waiting very long, because time never stands still, y'know?"

Elise turned to look at him but he was already walking in the other direction.

XXXXXXXX

Ping reached into his pocket and felt the lump of the watch still in there, he turned to the ocean withdrew the watch and threw it as hard as he could.

**See You Dragon Warrior**

**Teaser**

**A terror never seen before has assaulted the 'Bebop'! Caught by the venomous fangs of the unseen enemy! Another victim falls! Who or what is the unstoppable enemy that refuses to show itself?! A symphony of shivers that will send you to the darkest trenches of your mind!**

**Next session Toys in the Attic! Once you have started reading, you will never be able to escape!**

**Just as a question to my readers. The little notes I put in these stories to point out the references to the previous chapters e.g. (Session #5), do you find this patronizing or does it make the story feel more connected?**


	10. Session 10: Toys in the Attic

**The Dragon Warrior Blues**

**Session #10 Toys in the Attic**

_Travel Log 6968. Empty time, it sounds good to call bounty hunting freelance work. But all that really means is that we're self-employed. So when there's no-one to hunt, then we have nothing. Nothing to do, nothing to live on and most importantly, to some people at least...nothing to eat. Well, that's all part of the life that we have chosen, our destiny if you like. But when you're out of money, you start thinking of ways in which you can get some quick cash._

_Ping out._

**It didn't remember how it was born or where it had journeying from. All it knew was that it needed flesh to satiate itself. Over the past few days it had gotten some small animals and some vegetation, but now it craved something larger. In a clearing was a large wagon sitting by itself. It didn't know what kind of hellish demons lived inside of it, so it would bind it's time and wait for a weak spot to make itself known.**

Tigress and Ping sat opposite each other at the small table in the 'Bebop'. Ping was stripped down to some white briefs and with gritted teeth kept his gaze on his opponent. Tigress had all of her clothes but was wearing a self-satisfied smirk instead, in one hand was a small cup, in the other were two die.

"You're fine with both of these now right?" She asked mockingly. Ping ignored her and exasperatingly weighed up his chances. Tigress threw the dice into the cup and then slammed it down onto the table upside down which concealed the dice inside.

Ping took a deep breath and calmly said, "Even." Tigress tilted her head slightly in amusement, "You're going with even" she lightly challenged. Ping reacted badly to her jibe, "N-no! Make it odd!" He demanded.

"Odd? You're sure" She replied in the same mocking tone. Ping nodded happily, "Yes, I'm sure." Tigress shifted in her seat slightly and then lifted up the cup to reveal two ones, Ping's expression dropped like a rock. "Oops, snake eyes" she said smugly.

Ping quietly stood up, raised his fist to the gods and yelled out loud "NOOOOOOOO!"

Tigress leaned back in her seat. "I'd actually prefer payment in cash this time" she said while pointing at all of Ping's possessions that he'd given to her as stakes in their little game. "I'm not a pawn shop y'know."

"Well Ping?"

A shadow fell across the goose's face. "A man always keeps his word" he said ominously.

At that moment Po walked into the cabin brandishing some noodles he'd just cooked. "Hey guys, what are you do-" Ping threw his briefs off of his body and walked straight outside of the 'Bebop' apparently very confident in his now naked body.

Po blinked dumbly for a second. "That's alright Ping! I didn't want to sleep tonight anyway!" He poked his head outside of the cabin towards the retreating goose, "This is why I told you not to play against her! It was for my sake as much as yours!" Po stepped back inside of the cabin and looked down at his noodles which now had an added ingredient in them.

Ping's briefs.

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**Lesson #1**

Ping stomped towards a chest where he hoped he had some spare clothes to use.

_People were meant to work and sweat in order to make a living. Those who try to get rich quick, or live at the expense of others all get divine retribution somewhere along the line. That's the lesson. Unfortunately we quickly forget the lessons we've learned and then we have to learn them all over again._

All Ping could find was a long bathing towel and another pair of briefs. It was at this point the goose regretted his very simple desires in terms of fashion. He quickly put them on and shivered as a cold breeze blew through him.

_"Damn that cunning cat! How does she keep winning!?"_

Ping froze when he felt a pair of eyes on him, his old training kicked in and he began to subtly survey his surroundings as he pretended to clean up the mess he had made with his clothes. On the treeline near him he could see something just barely out of the corner of his eye. Ping began to slowly make his way over wishing it was just some kind of lost animal or someone who just really admired him in some briefs and a towel.

**Lesson #2**

_Survival of the fittest is the law of nature. We deceive or we are deceived. Thus we flourish or we perish. Nothing good ever happened to me while I trusted others._

_That is the lesson._

Po looked at Tigress who was figuratively rolling around on the ground at this point. Po threw his bowl contents outside and took the seat where Ping had been sitting. "So, how much did you swindle?" He asked with a hint of amusement. Tigress composed herself and replied "Be careful using that word panda, it could seriously damage my reputation. He just had a run of bad luck, that's all."

Po smirked, looked under the table and nudged her leg with his foot, this made the dice move on the table and become an odd number. "You sure he just didn't know about this?" He asked.

Tigress admired his tenacity and observation but didn't let him see it. "That's part of the skill of the game" she scoffed arrogantly. Po frowned softly and leaned back in his chair, "You could've at least given some of his clothes back, if he doesn't have any he'll have to go into a town like that."

Tigress shrugged, "Maybe. Or I could just rent them to him."

Po stifled a laugh and forced an eyebrow to go up "That's pretty greedy."

The tiger shrugged again, the gambler coming out of her in those moments "I prefer to think of it as enterprising."

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Po and Tigress shot up out of their chairs. "That sounded like Ping!" Tigress said, both Po and her jumped out of the 'Bebop' and made a beeline towards where they had heard it from.

In the distance they saw Ping sitting on the ground, as they got closer they saw his pained expression and although they would never admit it out loud to anyone not least their selves, they were worried.

"Hey what happened!?" asked Po as he knelt down next to Ping and offered him a hand up. Ping grunted, accepted Po's outstretched paw and got up. "Something bit me" Ping grunted through gritted teeth, the pain was bad but getting the information to his partners was far more important so it wouldn't happen to them.

"What do you mean by something?" Asked Tigress.

Po looked around and scanned the nearby tree line for any sort of creature or person. He didn't find anything but he had a weird sort of feeling that somebody or something was watching them, it was the weird 'hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck' feeling.

"I don't know okay! Look at this, there's a weird mark on the back of my neck!" Ping said irritably whilst pointing at the spot he'd allegedly been bitten.

Tigress shrugged and started to walk off "Well that was another great session of 'Wasting time with Ping'."

Po also started to walk off. "Wait Po! Don't you have any ideas? I didn't make this up, you know that right?" Po stopped and turned slowly to face his partner. "Hmmmm, maybe. There was a...No, a space lobster wouldn't have done this."

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Tigress climbed back into the 'Bebop' and counted up her earnings. While filings through Ping's money she felt eyes on her, she didn't react at first so her surveyor wouldn't get the idea that she knew.

Tigress suddenly withdrew her small pocket knife and leaped into action. "Who's there?" She growled, there was no response but she could definitely feel eyes on her, if she'd learned anything it was to trust her instincts.

"I know you're there, show yourself!" After a few more seconds of quiet she slightly lowered her weapon and drew a deep breath. Maybe she was just being overly paranoid.

"What are you doing?" Asked Po. Tigress jumped out of her skin and whirled around, the panda was staring at her from outside of their wagon with an eyebrow raised. Tigress sighed and folded her arms, "What concern is it of yours panda?" Po smirked, "Well I need to know if my "Team mates are going stir crazy" because then I'd have to take care of them."

Tigress jumped down in front of him, "I'd like to see you try" She hissed in his face, Po sneered "Bring it kitty cat". The standoff was tense until "Can you two just kiss already!?" Came Pong's obnoxious voice.

Tigress scowled at him then pushed past Po. "I'm going to wash in that nearby lake, you'd better be here when I get back!" Ping climbed onto the 'Bebop' "Or what?"

"Or you don't get your clothes back."

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"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Ping asked with doubt heavy in his voice. Po set down the small tin they had been discussing and sat down opposite him. "It works on everything besides nearsightedness and cavities."

Ping picked it up and stared at it as the act would some how make it seem more appealing. "Then it works on athlete's foot?" He asked sarcastically, but to his surprise Po snatched the tin and placed it back onto the table while replying "Of course."

Ping leaned back frowning, "Don't you have any 'real' medicine that's for sores and wounds?" Po paused for a second before picking up the box he had earlier got the tin and taking out a small salamander, "That would be this" he said while holding it up between his thumb and forefinger to show his partner.

Ping replied with an "Ewwwww" before legitimately asking "That heals wounds?" Po nodded and drew the thing closer to his own face to get a better look at it. "Yep, you crush it and boil it in 3 cups of water until it turns green and gooey, then you drink it."

"Po, isn't there something more...y'know, different?" Po asked hopefully. Po scratched his chin and thought. "Oh yeah I got it!"

Ping leaned forward "Yeah! Give me that" his optimism was hasty however as Po immediately pulled out a small red scorpion as if it was the cure to every disease ever. "They call this one 'Qiong Qi', or 'Scorpion's Sting', if you want it to go down better then you could call it 'Love's Sting I suppose."

"...I'll take the other one."

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Tigress was walking back to the 'Bebop' she'd forgotten her bathing towels, unusually she couldn't hear any yelling near it so it set her slightly on edge.

She entered in and took in the scene before her. Po and Ping were sitting opposite each other, the panda was pouring a green, thick gooey substance into a small tea cup while Ping watched him with a dejected but resigned expression.

Po looked up at her but his hands remained steady as he poured.

He finished pouring so Ping held the cup up to his beak and took a whiff, "Great, I'm feeling a lot sicker then I did before." He rubbed his forehead with his spare wing, to Tigress he did look slightly shaken.

"Do I look pale?" He asked Po. The panda frowned and crossed his arms, "You always look pale, now stop complaining and drink the damn medicine!"

The stench hit Tigress' nose and she wrinkled it in disgust, she made an audible gagging sound and covered her face with a sleeve. "Ugh! What is that smell?"

Po looked at her trying to contain a grin whilst Ping ignored her apparently trying to steel himself for the shock of the liquid. "It's herbal medicine" Po answered simply.

She raised an eyebrow, "Herbal medicine? That stuff? It smells like day old road kill soaked in sour milk and maggot juice." Po laughed internally but came up with an alternative quickly enough, "More like rotten soybeans and overcooked noodles." There had to be a noodle reference there for the panda.

Tigress nodded, "Oh yeah! I can smell that now!" Irritating the goose was very enjoyable.

Ping grit his teeth. "Shut up! I have to drink this stuff you know!"

He paused and stared into the brew. Both the panda and the tiger watched with bated breath as he swiftly raised it to his mouth and drained the cup in one go. Both of them were legitimately impressed, even Tigress.

Ping put the cup down then suddenly collapsed. "Oh brother" Tigress said while rolling her eyes. Po tutted, "C'mon, will you quit joking around?" A shudder went through him when he saw that on the back of Ping's neck there was a huge purple mark which was glowing and pulsing.

Something was seriously wrong here.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Po wrung the rag of water and pressed it to Ping's forehead. As soon as the two of them had realized that Ping's condition was bad they'd wasted no time at all in looking after him.

Tigress straightened out the small blanket that was lying on top of the goose, worry was etched onto her face no matter how much she tried to hide it, it unneeded however as Po was too focused to notice.

"Whatever did this, there's nothing to make a fuss over, he should be just fine right?" She asked quietly. Po was silent however.

She decided to broach the topic again "Am I wrong?"

"I have no clue."

He placed the rag back into the bucket of water next to him, stood up and then leaned against the wall. "This is no poison that I've ever seen before that's for sure, I've no idea what it could do to him or how to get rid of it" he glanced over to Tigress "So watch your back until we can figure this out."

She nodded.

"HEY GUYS!" Came an excited, youthful voice from outside. Because of the dour moment they were in they'd forgotten about Viper and Crane going out so Viper's loud proclamation had made them jump out of their skin.

Crane swooped onto the ground just outside of the wagon and waved at their two now irritated crew mates. Viper then appeared stealthily around the corner and beamed at them.

She saw Ping laid on the bed with the blanket on top of him, so she slithered over to investigate. "What's wrong with him?" She asked simply, her tone suggested she was asking about something as simple as the weather outside.

Po and Tigress looked at each other trying to silently decide who got the grim task of informing Viper about what had happened since she'd been gone. Judging by Tigress' panicked looks, it seemed as though the panda had this one. "He got bit by something but we don't know what it could b-".

"A mysterious space creature!" Viper suddenly interrupted, "Ohhh spooky! The attack of the horrible aliens!" She started to laugh hard and the only concerned crew mates shared a look. Po scratched his head, "Yeah, I guess that's a possibility" when he realized the ridiculousness of what he had just said he just scoffed "Yeah right" and rolled his eyes.

Viper suddenly appeared on Po's shoulder, "Well then what is it?" She asked sweetly. Po frowned, "I don't know, like I said to Tigress I've never seen anything like this before." Viper appeared over his other shoulder (Po hated the feeling of her on him, it was like some kind of 'kung fu chill') "Viper has never seen anything like this either. So it must be a horrible alien huh?"

Po thought for a second, "Maybe...some kind of rat, I don't know...got a sudden evolutionary buff and has started to secrete a new kind of poison?" That particular suggestion floated in the air for a second before being brought crashing back down to earth with a sarcastic single clap from Tigress.

"Oh that's brilliant panda, right up there with Viper's theory that it's an alien from another planet. At least hers was OK because she's a child!" Tigress shook her head, "You really are pitiful panda!" Crane seemed to agree with Tigress' prognosis because he was snickering silently in the corner.

Viper slithered over to Crane, "You believe me right Crane? That it's a horrible space creature who had come to feast on us all?" Crane just blinked at her stupidly before a light blush came over him.

Ignoring that particular scene Po walked over to a small bookcase in the corner and began pulling out volumes at random, "I'll go through this books and see if there are any poisons or diseases I might have missed."

Tigress remembered what she was going to do before Ping drunk the 'medicine', she weighed up the pros and cons of bathing now but she decided five minutes of that wasn't going to hurt anyone so she stealthily slipped out of the 'Bebop' with her bathing towels and made her way over to the nearby lake.

XXXXXXXXXXX

**It saw the tiger leave the wagon and head in the direction of the lake. It didn't get to finish off the balding goose, only get a small taste and ensure he wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight the second time around. The panda might still present a problem, as would the mighty bird and snake. These dominoes would fall in time. **

**It shifted it's gaze back over towards the tiger, it wasn't capable of the most complex thoughts in the world but it new a cold opportunity when it saw one.**

Tigress slid out of her green robes and lowered herself into the water, she wasn't shy of herself so felt comfortable being nude. Beside any perverts who would want to sneak a peek do so at their own risk.

She left her head drift backwards and rest against the edge of the lake, above her were some trees that were letting a little bit of sunlight in. This place was great, hell if Tigress was a more appreciative person she would've considered the place a godsend, well compared to the places that she and her comrades usually found themselves in.

Because of the combination of the warm sun and the cool water against her better judgement Tigress found her eyes were beginning to close slowly...slowly.

*Rustle*

Her eyes snapped open immediately and the recklessness of her coming out here alone...and naked weighed down on her. Her arrogance thinking something like that could only happen to weak people.

She scanned the tree line above calmly just in case she had imagined the whole thing ans saw nothing. This put her at ease slightly but what happened next had the total opposite effect. She felt breath on the back of her neck and was suddenly made aware both of the horrible gurgling sounds coming from the subject and the fur rising on the back of her neck.

She turned her head slightly, dreading what she might see and also slightly curious. She just hoped she was fast enough to-

XXXXXXXXX

Po clutched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. It was very hard to think about how to both fix Ping and confront this mystery creature when Viper was still throwing out suggestions for the monster's identity.

"Ohhh ohhhh. Maybe he has 'River Fever', you and Crane can travel into dangerous territory and find the cure. Along the way you'll be turned against one another and questions your friendshi-"

Po's fist on the table cut her off. "Enough!" He snarled.

"The cause of this isn't some crazy old coot with 'Spirit Orbs'...whatever those are, it isn't someone performing a technique to wipe Ping's mind, he hasn't gone blind for some reason! And this is the most important one, HE HASN'T BECOME A GHOST!"

"How do you know?" She replied innocently enough.

"Because I can see him!" Po answered exasperated.

Viper tutted, "Well it won't happen with that attitude!"

A vein grew on Po's head, "Why would I want that to happen!?"

Before Viper could cause Po to enter a rage induced coma Tigress appeared. Po scowled at her, "And where did you g-" he stopped when he saw the look on her face. She looked terrified.

Po stood up immediately, "What's wrong? Did you find something?" There was a beat while Tigress' composed herself, "Do you remember that theory you had about a mutant creature Po?"

Po didn't understand. "Uhhhh yeah"

"What do you suppose would happen if you were bitten by it?"

Po took a look down at Ping, "I can't say for sure at the moment, but looking at Ping...I can guess-"

"Death" Tigress finished his sentence for him.

Po nodded and Tigress wilted in front of him, she threw herself against the wall of the 'Bebop' and hit it with her fist. "No! Why did it have to be this way!? I still have a lot to live for."

Po looked at her oddly, "What's wrong?"

She apparently didn't hear him in the bubble of emotion she had built for herself. "I haven't committed any crimes...well at least no _really _bad ones. I'mm still young and full of life."

Po took a step towards her, "Full of life?"

Tigress turned towards him and put her head in her hands, "Oh, life is so unfair poor me!" She fell to the ground before Po had a chance to catch her. He sat down next to her, "Hey c'mon, what's gotten into yo-" his sentence abruptly stopped when he saw on her bare leg the same pulsing purple mark that was on Ping's neck.

**Two down, two to go.**

XXXXXXXXX

Po had laid Tigress on a makeshift bed opposite Ping and was wiping her forehead with the damp rag like he'd done earlier with Ping. _"__This thing is fast if it got her, if I can catch it off guard then maybe I can..." _Po suddenly noticed the lack of laughter and noise, he looked around for it's usual source but couldn't find Viper or Crane at all.

"Damn, they must have gone after that thing by their selves. I have to save them, they won't stand a chance."

XXXXXXXXX

"August 6th Skyday, the day Viper and Crane go looking for the spooky, mysterious, horrible, alien space creature!" Viper said in a sing-song voice. Her and Crane were walking about in the area to, as Viper proclaimed in song "Look for the alien creature". Although Crane hadn't exactly been hoping for a chance to hunt the thing that had already taken out Ping, when Viper pleaded with him to come along he felt that he couldn't say no, well that and the muteness didn't exactly help.

**Lesson #3**

_Lesson lessons! When you see a stranger, follow him._

Viper suddenly slithered quickly along the ground. Crane reached out a wing and mentally ordered her to stop. The snake climbed up a nearby tree and hung from one of it's branches, "Where are you!? Are you here Mr Spooky Space Creature!" Viper let go of the branch and crane caught her before she hit the ground. She sat on Crane's head and began to laugh hysterically, the bird huffed irritably but couldn't help but let a small smile work it's way up onto his beaked face.

"Explorations experimentation explorations explanation!" She started to sing. "I will come back alive I trust you Crane!" She announced cheerfully before once again running off into the shrubbery. Instead of making any attempts to catch her again Crane simply waited for her to come back.

XXXXXXXXXX

Po pushed some leaves out of his face. "Viper! Crane! Where are you damn it? This isn't a game of hide and seek!" He did a full 360 turn to make sure every angle was covered before moving on. He didn't want to make a habit of yelling after them in case the crew's little friend was lying in wait for any more victims.

After a couple of minutes walking he decided to risk it again. "Hello! Are either of you out here!? If you are then answer me! This isn't a game!"

He came out onto a clearing nearby a lake that he assumed was the same one Tigress had used. Across it he saw a form lying on the ground. Panic ran through the panda as he started a sprint over to it.

"Crane! Viper! Is that one of you?" He yelled over to them.

He didn't get an answer.

As he neared the body he indeed confirmed that it was Crane on the ground. "Hey hang in there!" Po ordered, he checked the avian's body for any injuries and saw for the third time that same purple injury, this time it was on Crane's chest.

Crane's eyes flickered open. Relief washed over the panda, "Crane! Oh man, I can't believe it got you too" Po suddenly there were two he had been looking for. "Where's Viper? Did she get caught by that thing?" He was greeted by silence as Crane closed his eyes again. Po frowned, "Hey c'mon! Where are your animal instincts?"

Po suddenly felt a kung fu shiver ride up his spine. He looked up from Crane's limp body and saw the creature that been targeting his friends all day. It was a small black blob. That was it? This was the thing that's been harassing them? Po couldn't believe it, but he knew looking at it that it was bad news.

He tried to make out that he hadn't spotted it and kneeled down slowly to pick Crane up. He got Crane over his shoulder and broke into a sprint back to the 'Bebop' where hopefully they'd be safe for the minute.

_"Sorry Viper but you're on your own for the time being, gotta get Crane some help first"_

Po increased his pace when he heard the blob start it's 'sprint' towards him. He crossed from the open plain into the forest and hoped that it could slow that thing down slightly. The tension was as thick as the forestry as Po ran as fast as his legs could carry both him and Crane. He broke out into the open again and saw the 'Bebop' not far away.

He was in such a panic he didn't hear the creature give up the chase...for now.

He made it to the 'Bebop' and looked behind him. Nothing was there but it was now or never. Po now had to kill that creature totally alone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Po had wrapped a bandage around Crane's wound just as he had done with both Tigress and Ping. He placed them in a line on the floor of the 'Bebop' and covered them all with blankets so on the off chance he didn't make it back then they would at least pass away in relative comfort.

The panda still hadn't gone to look for Viper, he'd do so when hunting the creature but if he went out not he would just be making himself a target and would likely not make it back.

_"No choice I guess, got to go in."_

Po grabbed whatever weapons and equipment he could find around the 'Bebop' his knives, a small crossbow which he'd recently made out of boredom and finally some gas grenades that Ping had made using an old recipe from the force. He attached these to a brown belt which he'd wrapped around his waist, he also placed some bolts for his crossbow in here as well.

When he'd finished tooling up he climbed out of the 'Bebop' and made a beeline towards the forestry. He stopped halfway however and felt a nagging sensation, he turned and looked at the exposed wagon he called home.

Po moved all of their possessions they'd placed outside of it back in and closed the doors over, that way they couldn't be robbed or disturbed if he didn't come back.

XXXXXXXXXX

Po sighed and took out the crossbow that was strapped to his back. He slowly advanced into the forest.

The panda could hear his own heartbeat too loudly for his own comfort and felt his pores begin to produce sweat. He didn't often get nervous but this thing...he'd never seen anything like it and to be able to get the drop on his friends showed him how dangerous this was.

He used one paw to hold onto his weapon and another to part the leaves from in front of him, he was never really that great at this guerrilla warfare stuff, he was more of an open battlefield kind of panda. With every step he wished he'd move out onto that clearing he was on earlier.

Something dropped onto the panda's nose and he immediately gasped and fell over in shock. He sprung up immediately and fired a bolt into the air where the substance had come from. He waited a second for a noise but there was nothing, at this he reached to his face and tried to discern what had fallen onto him.

He held it to his nose and almost laughed out loud when he realized it was a simple water droplet from a leaf above him, he chuckled slightly at his own paranoia and reloaded his crossbow again.

Before moving on he looked up at the trees, "Don't do that" he threatened jokingly.

The panda continued walking for a little bit more before to his relief he found that clearing again. He quickened his pace slightly glad to finally be in a more open arena. He approached the water's edge and looked at his own reflection, he didn't have a particular reason for doing so but he needed to see this clear water.

In the reflection he saw a shadow in the leaves up above him, fear trickled through him slowly as the realization set in. He slowly readied his cross bow.

He sharply twisted around and fired at the creature. "That's it!" Po yelled triumphantly at the arrow sailed at his prey seemingly destined for the kill. To the panda's horror however it simply altered it's shape around the arrow and the immediately launched itself at Po. It struck the crossbow out of his hands and it sailed into the lake.

Po felt a burning sensation where it had made contact with his skin, he thought it had bitten him but it had apparently spared him that particular fate. Well, for now at least.

The panda unhooked the gas grenades from the belt, bit the tab off with his teeth and rolled them towards the blob creature. He sprinted away immediately because he knew how badly that gas could effect someone if it was inhaled into the lungs. He stopped to catch his breath but because of the adrenaline stumbled and fell onto his backside. Po breathed deeply and watched as the gas hung in the air.

He screwed his nose up and his brow wrinkled as the scent caught his nose. Even from this fair away it was formidable stuff. He waited until the gas dissipated but the creature was simply laid on the ground where it had been before.

It didn't move for a second which filled him with hope, but then it shook itself and dust particles came off of it. Po wasn't a scientist but he would have guessed that the gas had only gone onto it's outer layer and hadn't gone into what might have constituted a respiratory system on the thing.

Po readied himself again and drew a knife for each hand. It was now or never, he had nothing left and he was running out of ideas.

He yelled out a battle cry and ran towards it. "Come on then!"

When they got within spitting distance of each other Po jumped over the blob and threw a blade down towards it, it missed it by an inch and thudded uselessly into the ground. Po cursed internally and rolled so he could keep his momentum. Before he could go in for another round it wrapped itself around Po's arm.

The panda roared in pain as he felt the bite, he knew this was the end and seeing no other solution jumped into the lake in order to try and drown the creature.

Po and the creature sunk down to the bottom and grappled with each other. He still held his blade and tried to stab at it but due to his slower speed under water it had no effect.

Almost as soon as he missed it let go of him and 'swam' back to the surface. Po knew then that he's lost and could feel his eyelids start to close, he forced himself to stay awake as he began to swim back up.

_Is this what Ping, Crane and Tigress felt before the darkness over took them?_

_NO! This won't be the end of Po the bounty hunter!_

Determination gripped him hard from the inside.

He kicked off from the ground using all the power in his legs. It must of been an illusion from that toxin but he could've sworn that the surface was getting further and further away from him. His paw reached out hopelessly as if to grab the sunlight from the sky and pull it closer towards him.

Both the lack of oxygen and the poison now swimming through his veins encouraged him to give up and sink uselessly back down to the lake bed. But he could see the sunlight breaking through the water, he could almost taste the sweet, sweet oxygen! He could...

XXXXXXXXX

The creature slid away to capitalize on those creature's now defenseless friends. It suddenly noticed however the snake that had been with that bird earlier. It was sleeping in the forest and was alone.

It needed to feast on this one, then they'd all be gone.

It quickly crept up on it but was then suddenly swallowed whole by the sleeping snake.

"Mmmmmmmm, pudding" She murmured in her sleep.

She rolled over onto her belly again, "Noooooooo, I can't eat anymore!"

**See You Dragon Warrior**

**Teaser**

**The End**

**"And so...they all passed away, everyone. It was a short series but thanks for your support, may they all rest in piece."**

**"And for the next series may the genius behind this one make 'Cowgirl Viper'!"**

**"Hey wait a minute!" Yelled Po "Have you stolen my noodles again Viper!?"**

** Ping laughed, "Next sessions is Jupiter Jazz Part 1."**

**YT Channel: **** channel/UC91MPCOBGf-BXiRmTwnUfiw**

**Patreon Page: **** user?u=376477**


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